The Truth Behind The Founder's Disappearance
by Vivia T
Summary: Have you ever wondered why Salazar Slytherin did not return to Hogwarts? Was it really due to the pureblood argument between him and the rest of the Founders? Or was there something else at play, something being the ancient magic attached to a certain Room of Requirement? A SalazarXHermione story.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** I really love reading fanfics where Hermione is paired up with them Slytherin boys, and when I stumbled upon HermioneXSalazar pairing, I just thought, PERFECT! Yes, historians do try their best to write the events that took place in the past as accurate as possible. However, I do believe that they as humans, might have missed out some details or written it based on their own biased point of view. So, these fanfic authors were sort of right in the sense that what if the legend misunderstood Salazar?

In my story, it'll start off in their sixth year, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Please forgive me for any errors that I make since it's been so long since I last read Harry Potter the book, and along the way, I've been reading way too many fanfics that I might have mixed up some events. I apologize for any grammatical errors too as I don't have a beta (a newbie in the fanfic world), and English is not my native language. I try to write the characters as canon as possible, but, well, I definitely don't think or speak like Hermione Granger.

**Additional A/N from copied from Chapter 3: Anyway, just to let you guys know, the plot for this story does not follow the 6th and 7th books closely. I'll edit the first chapter to include this. Salazar Slytherin appearing at the beginning of the Golden trio's 6th year, of course there would be some changes to how they eliminate Voldemort. I'm not sure if there would be Dumbledore bashing, 'cause the last few fanfics that I've read had some strong opinion against the old wizard, I might have been influence :)**

All characters belong to J.K. Rowling!

Here you go, my first chapter! Please read and review.

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**Chapter 1**

In a cave, the sound of waves splashing furiously against the shore roused Salazar Slytherin from his afternoon nap. Blinking his eyes, he looked out to the sea to see that only his shield was holding the waves from drowning the cave. This was the first time in the three months that he stayed in the caves that the usually calm waves were this violent. He quickly sat up and activated the spell that would raise the floor of the cave higher from the sea level. Satisfied that the waves were no longer slapping against his shield, he stood up and surveyed the rest of the cave.

The cave was separated into halves by a magically erected wall. On one side was his laboratory where he conducted most of his experiments whereas the other side was his living quarter. Salazar knew that trying out new spells and potions in the Chamber of Secrets would be hazardous to Hogwarts and its students no matter the heavy wards and charms he placed onto the room. So moving out to the sea cave where there are no human beings within a hundred miles would be his only option.

He walked to the kitchen and the dining area, which were situated at the edge of the cave and smirked, noticing how dry the place was. The all-knowing Rowena was right to convince him to shield his cave the moment he told the other Founders of his plan of renovating a sea cave into a house fit for his research work, telling him about how the tides changes throughout the year.

_I have to thank Rowena when I see her tomorrow_, he thought.

After having his dinner, he walked through the door that led to his laboratory. He checked his cauldron, noting how the color of the simmering potion was emerald green, unlike the black in his previous failed attempts at this new potion. _How fitting, the color of Slytherin_. Waving his wand over the cauldron vertically, he said, "Bona aetas". A wisp of green smoke rose from the cauldron, signaling a success in his potion making. He took one vial of the green potion to his room and left the rest of the vials in his potion cupboard that could only be accessed by his magical signature.

"Here's to years of youth!" Salazar raised the vial into the air and downed it._ I hope it does not turn me into a wrinkly old fool,_ was his last thought before he succumbed to sleep.

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The moment the ray of sunlight hit his face, Salazar opened his eyes and looked at his hands. _Not wrinkly. Yes, a good sign_, he thought with a relief. Next, he conjured a full length mirror next to his nightstand. Bracing himself for the worst, he stood in front of the mirror with his eyes closed. He counted down from three to one and held his breath.

The reflection showed a young man who was staring at the mirror with his mouth agape. He lifted his hands and touched his chin, where stubs of facial hair replaced what was once a beard. Dark, shoulder-length hair graced what was once his bald head. The slight wrinkle on his forehead was gone.

Salazar then conjured a swirling staircase that led to the cliff above his cave and ran upwards. Not once did he need to stop to catch his breath, not even when he reached the top. Overall, he felt like his seventeen years old self again. "Bona aetas indeed," He gasped.

After getting over his shock on how successful his new potion was, he started to get ready to meet his old friends at Hogwarts for lunch.

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Salazar knew that the muggles around him only knew of fox with greyish-brown fur. So when he found out that his animagus form was a snow fox, he was less than pleased, knowing that should he appear anywhere near the muggle hunters, he was as good as dead. It was with a huff that he placed a disillusionment charm when he reached the cliff above the cave before he morphed himself into a snow fox and ran towards the direction of Hogwarts castle. A simple charm ensured that no fox footprints were left behind as trails.

As he passed the edge of a seemingly large forest, the corner of the snow fox's mouth turned up slightly, revealing its sharp canine teeth. To others, the bared teeth might have seemed like a threat. Salazar knew better, he was merely grinning at the feel of Hogwarts' wards welcoming him home.

_Finally home_. He thought while going through his plan to surprise the other three Founders. Once he removed the disillusionment charm, they would recognize him in his animagus form. He couldn't wait to see the look of awe on their faces when he returned to his human self.

Rowena would want to discuss his new potion and whether he found one that could age the drinker. Helga would fuss over him on how the potion could have turned out to be a disaster, turning him into a baby for instance and none of them would be there to fix him. Godric, his best friend on the other hand, would not even be interested in whether there are side effects to the potions. Instead, he would pester Salazar for the extra vial of potion. Salazar would bet that Godric would put aside his pride and declare Salazar as the better wizard of them both even if the ongoing duels between them had yet to decide a victor. _Ah, the things that the skirt chaser would do to seduce the younger witches_. At this, the snow fox picked up its speed and weaved through the trees.

With the huge oak doors right in front of his eyes, Salazar was prepared to transform back to his human form when he felt a tug from somewhere behind his navel. He was about to dismiss it as a protest of hunger when his ears started ringing and an invincible force was pressing all over him towards his navel.

After what felt like forever when in reality it was less than a second, the feeling of being squeezed ended. Getting his bearings straight, Salazar, or rather the snow fox then opened his eyes. Gone were the huge oak doors and the castle. He was looking at a fireplace with what seemed like chairs facing it. At the front of the fireplace laid a dark wooden coffee table on a Persian rug. The walls on both sides of the fireplace were decorated with rows and rows of books and scrolls. On the left of the room was a four poster bed much like the one in his cave.

Having no idea as to where he was, Salazar decided to transform into his human form before exploring further. It was then he heard someone screaming and with the reflex of his seventeen years old body, he turned around only to be faced with a brown bushy haired girl with her wands pointing at him.

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The thing Hermione Granger hated the most was tardiness and yet, here she was, standing next to the portrait of Fat Lady, waiting for Ronald Weasley, her partner of the night for patrol duty. It was at times like this that she wondered why she harbored a crush on Ron. '_Opposite attracts_!' She chanted in her head. It was what Ginny Weasley explained when asked of her relationship with Dean Thomas. Surely Ginny was right if they had been going on for more than two years. What Hermione didn't know was that Ginny was using Dean until Harry Potter somehow realizes that she is a grown lady. Opposite attracts was just an argument to evade further questions like 'when did Ginny realize she likes Dean'.

As he neared the exit of Gryffindor common room, Ron thought he would be calm enough to patrol with Hermione. Nothing prepared him for the surge of anger that shot through him when the portrait door opened and he saw the edge of a red letter peeking out from the book held against her chest. '_Harry and Cho have been snogging after every DA classes. As have Hermione and Viktor! You're just jealous that you have no one to snog with.'_ Ginny's words from before rang in his head.

Looking at Ron, Hermione was about to chide him when he stormed off the corridor. She looked at the back of Ron incredulously. With a few quick steps, she caught up with him. She knew from his red ears and stiff posture that he was fuming so she had to choose her words carefully.

"You were fifteen minutes late, Ron." She told him softly. "You do know that should Professor McGonagall find out, we would lose our badge."

"I didn't ask you to wait for me, did I?" Ron shot her a glare.

Hermione thought of what she did today to deserve the glare and came up with nothing. Weren't they having a great conversation this morning during Herbology? "According to the guidelines, prefects are supposed to patrol corridors in pairs. If one partner is ill, there is another prefect as a stand in." she explained to Ron gently, careful to reign in her temper. "So, even if you didn't ask me to wait for you, I couldn't start patrolling without any partner."

"You could've looked for me. I might have been ill." Ron said crossly.

"Which was what I did! I was on my way to you when you just stormed off without even a simple sorry or hello." She defended.

"So what if I didn't apologize? Are you going to report me to Professor McGonagall?" Ron barked.

Hermione was done being patient with him. Having a bad mood did not justify her being at the receiving end of it. She pulled at his arms, making him face her.

"Ronald Weasley! I said no such things. I merely pointed out that you were late so you can take note of it and not repeat this in the future. What in Merlin's name is wrong with you? Your quick temper will-"

She was cut off by Ron who grabbed her book. "What is wrong with me? My temper is all because of you!" He shoved the red letter in front of her face. "Did you snog Vickie?"

Hermione could not deny this. She did snogged Viktor after the Yule Ball, but there was no spark between them. She called it off before he returned to Bulgaria. She knew Viktor still had hope that they might get back together, eyeing the red envelope and how he always signed off as "Your Love" but to Hermione, he was just a friend, a pen-friend. Surely Ron knew this as she has explained this many times though omitting the part where she shared a kiss with Viktor right after the ball.

Hermione grabbed her book and letter back. "So what if I did? That was almost two years ago but now he is-"

"Just a pen-friend, is that what you were going to say?" Ron's face turned even redder, matching the color of his hair. "That is a load of crap. You snogged him and you didn't even care to mention that one bit! Admit it, Hermione. You still like him!"

"This is the last time I'm going to repeat this, Ronald Bilius Weasley. I. Do. Not. Fancy. Viktor." She punctuated each word with a jab to his chest using her book.

Ron couldn't believe Hermione. He didn't understand why she would keep in touch with that oaf of a Krum if she did not reciprocate his feelings. He would never admit it, but he was actually jealous that he did not have Hermione's first kiss. He wondered if things would turn out differently had he asked Hermione to the Yule Ball before Krum. He gave one last stare at Hermione before flinging her hand away. "I do not believe you." He ended the argument in a childish manner and stomped forward.

It took Hermione a moment to recover herself and when she did, she started pacing back and forth in front of the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, not that she noticed, all the while muttering to herself.

"How dare he act as if it is a crime to kiss Viktor! He was the one who treated me as a last resort to Yule Ball. Yet once he finds out that I kissed Viktor, he raged at me. The nerve of him to act as if I've cheated on him when we're not even a couple."

Ginny's voice reminded her, '_Opposite attracts._'

"Well, Ginny, clearly opposites don't attract if what Ron and I do every time is argue and make up, only to argue again. Merlin! I wish I could know who my soulmate is, or better yet, meet him. Ron just feels so-" She stopped pacing at the sound of door opening. "Wrong." She whispered, realizing that it was the entrance to the Room of Requirements. _What did I ask of the room?_ She wondered.

Hermione slowly walked past the door which closed upon her entering. Her eyes scanned the room and fell upon the white furred fox. She recognized it as the Arctic fox and frowned. Don't Arctic foxes live far up north? Why is there one here when it is supposedly extinct in Scotland?

Her thoughts were answered when in its place, a dark haired man stood. Upon recognizing an animagnus transformation, Hermione screamed. With a flick, her wand fell from the holster into her hand and she pointed it at the intruder who turned to face her. "Who are you!" She demanded.

A look of confusion washed over his face though Hermione missed it. What caught her eyes was the serpent crest. _Could he be a death eater?_ She had to act fast before he took out his wand. A stunner followed by full body-bind curse would give her time to inform the Professors of this intruder since she didn't have any skills of interrogation.

"Stupefy!" Hermione shouted. A bright blue transparent shield appeared in front of the man and he frowned, as though thinking why she would attack him. She noted that the man was not holding any wand. "Wandless magic," She gasped.

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**Note:**

1\. The _**sea cave**_ is inspired from the restaurant of Grotta Palazzese hotel. Do google it! It is in my to-visit list if I ever travel to Italy.

2\. **_Bona aetas_** is Latin. According to Google translate, it means, good age, youth, prime of life.

3\. The color of the _**potion**_ is emerald green because green represents youth. If brewing Felix Felicis requires wand movement in a figure of 8 (8 being the lucky color) over the potion, I figured waving vertically (figure of 1) seems fitting since it supposedly reflects new beginning, which reminds me of youth.

4\. The reason why I chose _**fox**_ as Salazar's animagnus form should be pretty obvious. Foxes are cunning and according to universeofsymbolism .com, Arctic fox is a sign of magic amidst the ordinary. To me, Salazar, being a powerful wizard should be a white fox instead of red/gray/silver/brown.

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Do let me know what you think! Xx


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you for your kind review! I really appreciate them. To Guest and Jules, thank you.**

**To Moi, since you don't have an account, this chapter is sorta dedicated to you. I was going to use the comprehensive spell until you mentioned Crouch. I just hope this doesn't disappoint you :( Oh, and I edited Chapter 1. Thanks for pointing out the error about casanova, I really didn't know. T.T**

**Disclaimer: **The following characters belong to the one and only JK Rowling. They are a little **OOC** and for that, I have to apologize.

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**Chapter 2**

Salazar couldn't understand whatever it was that the bushy-haired witch shouted. It might have been true that he appeared out of nowhere but he did not think it was necessary to have a wand pointed at him by the witch who looked as if she was ready to attack at any second. And attack she did with a word that he knew, a stunning spell. He drew the protego shield that could deflect spells without bouncing back to the caster.

He heard the witch's voice again, but just as before, he didn't know what she was talking about. It was like speaking to the other three founders when they met for the first time.

Salazar grew up speaking Parseltongue whereas the rest of them spoke English. It took him three days to learn the language, to which his mentor, Merlin commented that with only the Slytherin line who could speak Parseltongue, its descendants take picking up a new language like a duck to water. _Survival instinct, Merlin said._

Seeing the witch's calculated look, Salazar knew he had to do something. Taking out his wand was a mistake though, because the moment the witch spotted it, she exclaimed, "Expelliarmus!"

The wizard gripped his wand tighter right after Hermione shouted the incantation. She knew she was facing a formidable opponent. Even though he looked like her age, his quick reflex was that of an Auror. Perhaps he was even on par with Professor Dumbledore seeing how his wand didn't even move more than an inch.

Salazar was amazed. He and Godric had casted the disarming charm at each other so often that their wands would practically stay glued to their hands whenever Rowena or Helga tried to disarm them. This girl, who looked only seventeen managed to cause his wand to slip an inch. Granted, he was caught off guard, but still.

The last thing Hermione needed was to have a highly skilled, possible death eater on the loose at Hogwarts ground. She knew that she would have to use the non-verbal spells that she learned from Nymphadora Tonks during their private sessions last summer.

As she swished and flicked her wand at him, throwing curse one after another, she couldn't help but feel annoyed when all the curses absorbed into the blue transparent shield. She needed a stronger attack. Immediately, she conjured a wave of water and shot at his shield.

Thinking that it was her best aguamenti charm she ever casted and it would at least crack the barrier, she ceased the spell and lowered her wand. She bit her lower lips when she saw the floor between her and the wizard was doused with water yet beyond his shield, it was dry.

Her inquisitive nature was tempting her to ask the wizard how he managed to erect such a strong shield but stopped herself as her eyes went back to the serpent brooch. Hermione knew she couldn't be so judgmental and automatically assume that serpent accessories are associated with Slytherin and therefore the death eaters. There were the neutral pureblood Slytherins like the Davis and Zabini family.

Salazar was excited at the witch's speed at throwing spells and he believed hers could rival that of Godric's as he only managed to maintain his shield and barely had time to counter them. He was itching to fire his own spells but the duel would have to wait for another time. Now he needed some answers.

Without lifting her wand, Hermione flicked her wrist upwards the second the blue transparent shield disappeared. A cut appeared on the wizard's cheek. _Finally, _she cheered in her mind. Knowing that she could at least hurt him boasted her confidence.

Hermione was prepared for a murderous look, an irritated face, a death glare, all but the grin on the wizard's face. For some unknown reason, her heart skipped a beat. The wizard actually looked handsome, even with Snape's hairstyle sans the oily look.

Salazar saw her eyes blinked and knew that she was distracted. He took this window of opportunity to non-verbally cast a freezing and silencing charm on her.

Hermione tried to lift her hand and shout at him but to no avail. The wizard got the upper hand after all.

_If Voldie starts recruiting death eaters who look like him, the witches won't stand a chance._ _Hermione Jean Granger, the brightest witch of her age, was defeated just because of a bloody grin. _She mentally slapped herself as she braced herself for any of the unforgivable curses.

Instead, she was being levitated to the wing backed chair near the fireplace and her legs were bent so that she could sit on it. He then removed her wand and dried the floor before placing the other chair directly in front of her.

"I'm sorry but you may have to remain at the state you are until after I've gotten my answers from you because I'm not taking any chances, especially after this." He pointed his wand at the cut on his cheek which healed at once. "First and foremost, I apologize for appearing in your living quarters out of nowhere. It must have been a shock for you but trust me, I had no idea how I got here either." Salazar explained.

_A deep baritone voice. This is how a man is supposed to sound like. _She compared it with Ron's voice not before she realized something was off.

Salazar saw the confusion in her eyes. "Great, you don't seem to understand what I just said, do you?"

Hermione stared at the wizard sitting right in front of her. _A wizard who speaks a language I do not know of! _He must have come from some rural villages since it did not sound like any of the languages that are spoken in most wizarding communities that she has taken upon herself to master them or at least the basics of them.

Salazar waved his hand in front of her, urging her to speak before he remembered the silencing charm that he placed. Rolling his eyes at his own stupidity, he pointed his wand at the witch.

Hermione felt her eyes blinking and knew that the wizard had released her of the spells. She cleared her throat and held out her hand. "May I have my wand back?"

The wizard looked between her hand and her face, looking as if he was thinking what he should do. Hermione continued, "Look, I will feel much safer with the wand in my hand while talking to you."

Salazar did not know why the witch offered her hand. _Why is she asking me to dance? Or is she asking me to walk her to somewhere else? Also, shouldn't it be men who offer their hands to the ladies? _"My lady, I have to politely decline your offer to dance."

Puzzled, Hermione asked, "Was that a no?" She added and pointed at his cheek. "Because I can assure you that I will not place another slicing hex on you."

"Oh, you mean you wanted to have a look at this?" Salazar touched at the spot where the hex hit.

Hermione nodded, "I swear!" _Only the slicing hex. _

"Not to worry, I've already healed it. It's just a small cut, I've had worse from Godric." Salazar gave her a reassuring smile.

Suddenly, it dawned on Hermione, "Do you even understand English? I'm sure you can reply me with a simple yes or no." The lack of response from the wizard saw Hermione wrinkle her nose in annoyance. "This is certainly a problem."

While Hermione already identified the language barrier, it never occurred to Salazar that just as how he couldn't understand her, he was speaking a language foreign to her as well. All he could see was her looking deep in thought and how much it reminded him of a Rowena engrossed in solving puzzles. He really missed his best friends.

A snap of finger brought Salazar out of his musing.

Hermione exclaimed, "Ah-ha! Body language! It's how my mom communicates with the Asian granny living down the road."

She pointed at herself using her index finger, "My," Then she used her right hand and waved around, "Wand?"

Salazar raised his eyebrows. He wondered how different is this place and his home. The language, a lady offering her hand to a man, and it seems as if people here talk with exaggerated hand gestures. He twirled his wand, contemplating if he should do the same, waving his hands around while talking that is.

The witch motioned at his hand. "It's nothing," Salazar shook his head, "Just a habit that I tend to have when I think." He aimed his finger at where his brain is.

Hermione took this as a refusal to her request. "But, I don't-"She shook her head then wrap her arms around herself, "Feel secure without my wand." She pointed at herself then the wand again.

Noting the slowly dying flame at the fireplace, Salazar stated. "You're cold." With a flick, the fireplace roared back to life. "There, you should feel warmer by now."

Hermione stared at the fireplace in disbelief. Body language didn't seem to work if he took secure as being cold. She stood up and started pacing again, muttering to herself something along the line of deal with Ron, snow fox, serpent brooch, powerful, handsome, language barrier, idiot and simple hand gestures.

"I should get Professor McGonagall to deal with him, but I can't walk around the castle without my wand." She shuddered, thinking of the dementors roaming around the halls in her third year. "I wish there are some ways to get my message across to that idiot." There was a pause in step as she threw a dirty look at the wizard.

"For the love of Merlin, I need a translator!" She exclaimed and right then, two ghosts materialized out of thin air.

Helena Ravenclaw gazed out of the window from Ravenclaw common room, a nightly routine of hers to distract her from thoughts of the lost diadem being in the hands of Tom Riddle, or Voldemort as he proclaims himself. With a tug in her belly, the dark lake was no more and she found herself standing in well-lit room.

At the Astronomy Tower, the Bloody Baron could be seen punching the wall. Only the clanking of the heavy chains he wore could be heard, which led to Sir Nicholas thinking that groaning and clanking at the tower was a favorite pastime of the Baron. Sir Nicholas was not even close to the reason behind it.

In fact, the Baron usually did that to release his pent up frustration after he had enough of the pureblood bigots residing in the dungeon. But that night, his anger was solely directed at a blonde pureblood. "Bloody Malfoy," the Baron groaned, an image of the Dark Mark tattoo on Draco Malfoy's left forearm. This was not what his Lord would have wanted.

All of a sudden, he heard a yelp, "Ouch!" It was a voice he knew and he wondered what she was doing at the Astronomy Tower. After all, they had a silent agreement on not showing up at each other's favorite place at the castle.

Instead of bricks, he found himself face to face with Helena who was rubbing at her left shoulder as he looked up. Realizing that he might have punched Helena, the Baron paled, not that it was visible on his ghostly face. Even after their death he still managed to somehow hurt her. "I'm sorry!" He apologized. "I thought it was a wall… I had no idea…."

Helena cut off his ramble. "It's alright, Baron. We were being summoned," Her gaze fell on the Gryffindor witch, the only non Ravenclaw student that had her attention, well other than Riddle that is. "By Miss Granger, it seems."

"Grey Lady! You know who I am." Hermione was bewildered that the quiet ghost of Ravenclaw who seemed to only interact with students of her own house actually knew her name.

The Grey Lady chuckled. "Of course I do! I've always berated the Sorting Hat for putting you in the wrong house. I thought you were better suited in Ravenclaw with how you topped every class, well, except for Divination. Not everyone has the Inner Eyes." She rolled her eyes. "However, after the stunt you pulled against Umbridge last year, you're definitely a Gryffindor."

Hermione blushed at this, embarrassed that even the ghosts knew what happened at the Forbidden Forest. Then she remembered the Grey Lady mentioned something about her. "Did you just say I summoned the both of you?"

The Grey Lady nodded her head.

"Impossible! I do not have the power to call for Hogwarts ghosts whenever I want."

"You don't, though I can't say the same for this room." The Grey Lady recognized her mom's magical signature that was most prominent at two sites, the Ravenclaw Tower and the Room of Requirements. Seeing how she was at the tower mere minutes ago, she deduced that she was at the latter. She knew that she had not been here ever since her death but she couldn't help the niggling feeling that there was something off about the aura in this room.

Hermione exclaimed, "A translator!"

"I beg your pardon?" The Baron did not know what a translator was but he didn't want to outright question the young witch. He had an image to uphold in front of Helena.

Hermione did not waste time and walked towards the wizard. "You see, I might have asked the room for a translator. Since the both of you are here, it's safe to assume that you can assist in conveying my message to this man over here."

Salazar and Rowena had always wanted to talk to the wandering souls, to study them yet they always disappeared at the sight of the living. It was a look of wonder as he watched the witch have a conversation with two ghosts.

He was sure that nothing else could surprise him further, especially now that he saw the dead willingly interact with the living.

Salazar was wrong. Once the witch walked towards him and the two ghosts turned around, he gasped in shock. "Helena? Baron?"

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**Thanks for reading! Review, pretty please? :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: All characters belong to JKR, the mother of Hogwarts. **

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**Chapter 3**

The Baron's ears perked up. Ever since returning to Hogwarts as ghosts, he and Helena had witnessed how English evolved and learned the style and grammar in each period. It had been so long since he last conversed in Old English that he thought he had heard wrongly.

Then, there was the boy's pair of eyes. The Baron had seen only one man's eyes that were darker than the coal-almost pitch black, but said man should've been dead centuries ago. A sideway glance at Helena's scrutinizing eyes told him that she might have thought he was familiar too.

Helena was stuck between getting excited or wary. Here sitting right in front of her was a boy, who looked no older than twenty years old, saying their names in Old English.

She scanned the boy from head to toe. The boy was not wearing any of the Wizarding Schools uniform. In fact, his entire outfit screamed 10th century, from the cloak and how it was fastened over the chest with the serpent brooch, to his mid-thigh length trousers and the Viking leather shoes.

From the day sleeves were added to cloaks and renamed as robes, every wizard and witch chose wearing robes as it was more convenient than tunic and cloak. The Viking leather shoes too, looked as if it belonged in the museum located at the Wizarding Ministry. Only the Baron could be seen wearing such an outfit.

Knowing that the Granger kid owns a time turner, there was likelihood that the boy was a time traveler. On the other hand, he could have been raised by parents who still speak and dress as people in the 10th century. Helena thought it was more of the former since the boy seemed to know the Baron's and her name, which suggested that he could have been a student in Hogwarts who had seen them before the runaway incident.

"Greetings, young lad." Helena said with a smile, glad that she was not rusty in speaking in her mother tongue. "Have we met before?"

Salazar scoffed. "Young lady, do you not recognize Uncle Salazar now that I have hair and no mustache?" He personally did not think that he was so unrecognizable from his older self.

Helena gasped. No wonder the aura he emitted was so familiar. But, she couldn't believe him. Uncle Salazar was gone. "Well, young lad, I find that quite preposterous. The last I saw Uncle Salazar, he was celebrating his 45th birthday and certainly not his 17th birthday."

"Please don't remind me of that horrid day. What I would do to get rid of that memory." Salazar shuddered, remembering the morning he found Rosa Gaunt in his bed. He couldn't recall how they ended up there but both he and Godric had suspected that it was Rosa's father, Ernst Gaunt's doing. He had always offered Salazar his daughter's hand in marriage to which Salazar kept declining. His relocation to the cave was also partly to avoid the father and daughter duo.

Then he remembered what he always called Helena as a child. "Now, now, do I have to tell Baron your embarrassing childhood stories or is calling you young eaglet enough?"

Helena was stunned. Only two men used that nickname. _Could it really be him? _

The moment the boy announced that he was Salazar, the Baron instantly believed him. _That explains the eyes._ He wanted to congratulate his Lord in his discovery of de-ageing potion. He wanted to welcome his Lord back to Hogwarts. He wanted to cry in joy and hug his Lord for being alive and breathing. _Perhaps this is why he did not return to Hogwarts! The Room of Requirement brought him to the future!_

But he couldn't. Helena had to accept that the boy is indeed her Uncle Salazar. Unlike her mother, Helena could only accept facts and evidences that are right in front of her eyes. This could be the reason why Helena could never be cleverer and outperform her mother. It was not her intelligence that failed her, but her logical brain that lacked of intuition.

On the other hand, from the many years of close relationship with his Head of House, the Baron knew that there was no such word called impossible in his dictionary. Without his Lord's open-mindedness in researching new potions and spells, as well as persistence in making things possible, the Baron daresay the students in all Wizarding schools would not have anymore materials for potions making from their 5th year onwards.

The Baron thought sadly, _Not that the society knows. After all, Lord Salazar is only known as the narrow-minded pureblood bigot._ He had no idea how to break this news to his Lord.

So, for now, the Baron would stay put and happily listen to whatever childhood stories his Lord was about to tell. "You see, Baron, when young Helena here was three years old, she learned the word eaglet and its meaning. So, one day when Godric and I brought her to the beach, this little eaglet here thought she could fall off the cliff, have those little wings sprouting off her back and fly. Thankfully, Godric was flying on his broom and spotted her right when she took her first step. Needless to say, that nickname was banned ever since."

The Baron had to bite his tongue to keep himself from laughing. To think that he always thought Helena was Miss Perfect ever since she was a baby.

Helena stomped her feet and protested. "I was three, Uncle Sal! Three! Must you bring that up whenever you have got the chance?"

"Your mother blinded me for one whole month for taking my eyes off her daughter." His Lord rolled his eyes. "I missed one whole month of experimentation! I swear, your mother is too cruel to me sometimes that I don't know how she ended up being one of my best friends. Just in case you've forgotten, I was trying to build you a sandcastle of Hogwarts that we envisioned. How was I supposed to concentrate on it and look after a kid with her own mind at the same time?"

Two words though did not go unnoticed even as he ranted. Salazar grinned. He did not realize how much he had missed this non-blood related niece of his. "Back to Uncle Sal instead of young lad, aren't we?"

Helena blushed. "Well, you can't show up thirty years younger and expect everyone to believe that it's you. But how?"

Salazar shrugged. "I'm hurt that you seem to have forgotten about my hobby. It's my latest experiment! What do you think? I can't wait to surprise your mother, Helga and Godric with my new look."

Helena thought with a tinge of sadness. _Does he not know that all three of them have crossed over to the Other Side? He's going to be devastated._

However, Salazar mistook her dejected face as directed to herself. "I'm sorry, Helena. Nobody told me the news of you and Baron's passing. Or could it be a recent incident? Does your mother know? I would hate to bear this news to her."

Helena glanced at Baron. "Baron, what do you make of this? I'm at a loss here." She looked on the verge of tears. "How do I break this to him?"

* * *

Helena Ravenclaw was given the title The Grey Lady for a reason-her constant look of aloofness and coldness. No one had ever seen her cry or laugh. So even when Helena reverted back to their daily language, it was Helena's range of emotions that flashed on her face that halted Hermione from asking questions. In fact, there was no need of any confirmation. Helena's reaction in that span of few minutes had proven Hermione's theory.

Once Helena and the wizard started conversing, Hermione knew that she could get her wand back in no time. It was the look of familiarity on the Baron's otherwise brooding face that caught her attention though. She took a few steps to her left to take a proper look at the wizard who wore the excited face that she, Harry and Ron sported each year they reunited at the 9 ¾ Platform.

Hermione then looked between the both of them, taking note of the similar clothing style. _They could be speaking in Old English! That was the period Grey Lady and the Baron came from! _She connected the dots and grinned. She was bubbling with excitement at the thought of meeting someone who came a thousand years from the past, especially when said person is well and alive, unlike the two ghosts standing right before her. She had someone with direct contact with the Founders themselves who could tell her all about them. Not that the two ghosts couldn't satisfy her curiosity, but rumors had it that they refused to mention anything about the Founders period.

* * *

As Hermione was mulling over what sort of questions that she wanted to ask the wizard since there was practically no information about the Founders in the Hogwarts: a History, Baron was shocked that this was the first time Lady Helena asked for his opinion. He would have been ecstatic in normal circumstance, but this wasn't normal. It concerned his Lord, his Head of House. The Baron was always a hot-tempered man. How was one such person supposed to know how to tell someone of his three best friends' deaths?

For once, the Baron wished Lady Helena hadn't talked to him. He had no answer to her dilemma. His shoulders slumped and he gazed downwards at the floor as if words of advice would appear if he stared harder. "Baron," he heard the whisper of his name followed by a sniffle.

* * *

Seeing young Helena's miserable face made Salazar wonder how Rowena was coping with her daughter's death. He guessed that a burial had been held but why was he not notified. Rowena could've passed him a message using that owl of hers that she trained. _She didn't want to take any chance that the owl could be tracked to where he lived. _He reasoned with himself. All he could think of was how he was not there for his best friend when she needed comfort most. He regretted leaving Hogwarts.

Automatically, his hands shot out to pat Helena's head as an act to cheer her up only to find his hand passing through her, as if she was thin air.

Suddenly, it was as if a dam broke and hot tears streamed down Helena's cheeks.

"I'm sorry, Helena. It was insensitive of me to do that knowing your current state." He wanted to hug her so badly; to sooth her like how he did when she had her little bouts of nightmares during his occasional eaglet-sitting sessions.

"Hush, child."Salazar soothed gently. "Everything will be alright. I'll return to Hogwarts and take care of your mother once I find a way to get out of here, wherever I am at."

* * *

_The serpent brooch, _her wary side reminded her and Hermione's excitement instantly deflated. _If he were to be from the Founders' era, the serpent would suggest that he was placed in Slytherin. No wonder he's a powerful wizard. He could've been practicing dark magic! What with Salazar Slytherin being his Head of House. _

She had to find out whether he was friend or foe. If he strongly believed in blood purity, he needed to be isolated from the rest of the world. He couldn't find out about his Head of House's descendant's plan to cleanse the world of muggleborns. If he did, he would've gone over to the Death Eaters's side and that was a situation Hermione thought they had to avoid at all cost seeing how his advanced skills in dueling would be an asset to the enemy.

The sound of crying snapped Hermione out of her reverie. She looked up to see Grey Lady choking in tears.

"What did you do to her?" She yelled at the wizard and pointed at the weeping figure. There was no way Grey Lady, the emotionless, would've cried unless the wizard provoked her. _Great, Hermione, you've been screaming at the wizard ever since you met him even now when you don't even know whether Grey Lady cried because of him. _For some reason, her inner voice made her feel guilty for judging the wizard too quickly.

The wizard held up his hands, a universal sign for '_I did nothing!_' though it might not have been one in the medieval age.

The Baron could not take Hermione's questioning gaze anymore. His Lord did not deserve that. "No, Miss Granger. Lord Salazar would never wish any harm on his niece."

Hermione continued staring at the wizard. _Lord Salazar sounds familiar. Niece? Did Rowena have any siblings? But he and Grey Lady do not look alike. _Then she remembered what the sorting hat said. _Friends. The other founders could've treated Grey Lady like their own niece. So, Lord Salazar could only be…._

"By Lord Salazar, you don't mean Salazar Slytherin, do you?" Hermione asked the Baron, all the while watching the wizard. _He's really young. Shouldn't the Slytherin snake be in his fifties? Does dark magic maintain the practitioner's youth?_

"Of course!" The Baron proclaimed before realizing his mistake. Here, he was telling a muggleborn that the wizard who supposedly started the bloody purity ideology was standing right in front of her. Not any muggleborn, but the smartest witch of her age.

A surge of anger coursed through Hermione as the Baron confirmed that the wizard before her was indeed the cause of the prejudice against muggleborns like her. "Accio wand!" she exclaimed and for the first time, she managed to retrieve it wandlessly.

The wizard before her was the cause of the grief she endured from the insults such as filthy little mudblood. She cast a freezing charm at the wizard.

The wizard before her was the cause of the war seventeen years ago that took Harry's parents' life and the impending war that might kill Harry too, or so the prophecy said, even if Hermione wasn't much of a believer in that Trelawney fool. She wanted to place a few slicing hex, but she couldn't. She wouldn't stoop as low as the Death Eaters.

"Incarcerous." She conjured thick ropes to wrap the wizard onto the chair.

"You can't tie my Lord like that!" The Baron's eyes widened.

"Why can't I?" Hermione glared at him.

"Because he deserves much more respect than that, you little witch!" The Baron's hot temper showed itself as he went towards Hermione and threw a punch at her, but to no avail. His ghostly figure went right past her.

"I suppose not if he teaches you to hit young ladies." Hermione replied and walked towards Grey Lady who was only sniffling by then. "Grey Lady, are you feeling better?"

Helena looked up at the young witch and nodded her head.

"Helena, this little witch here immobilized your uncle and tied him with those filthy ropes." The Baron glided towards Helena and pointed at his poor Lord.

"If I don't, he would be joining his descendant the moment he finds out about it." Hermione explained to Helena.

"No, he won't. He-" _does not even believe in blood purity _was what the Baron wanted to relay but was cut off by the constriction of his throat.

"Why am I not surprised that you would side your Head of House." Hermione pointed her wand at the ghost, even though she knew nothing would happen if she decided to hex him. "Don't you forget, his little pet was the monster that killed Myrtle, a muggleborn."

"No, Mehen-" He heaved hoarsely and started coughing.

Helena wiped away her tears and guided the Baron to the unoccupied wing-backed chair, rubbing his back soothingly. "Sit and I'll take it from here."

She stood in front of Salazar before facing Hermione. "Miss Granger, do you trust me?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow but nodded nonetheless. "Of course, Grey Lady."

"Would you please remove the freezing charm from Unc- I mean, Lord Salazar Slytherin? I have a theory that I would like to test." Helena gave her what she hoped was a reassuring smile. She could only pray that the plan she had in mind would lift the curse off them. Should it not work, her Uncle Sal would be subjected to the 'punishments' for things that were not his fault.

Hermione thought that the Grey Lady was mental. Despite him being her so called uncle, she should've known of his fallout with her mother and the other two Founders. "But, Grey Lady, he's-"

"The man behind all the pureblood ideologies, I know. But Miss Granger, it is imperative that I talk to him about certain things." Helena decided to appeal to her using her given name. "Hermione, I promise I'll explain and answer to whatever queries you have once I'm done."

It was the first time that the Grey Lady addressed a student other than the surname, and the said student was not from Ravenclaw. As if being confunded, Hermione waved her wand and the freezing charm ended.

"The ropes too,"

"What? There is no way-"

Once again, Hermione was cut off by the Grey Lady. "He's harmless. Hermione, please?"

Adding a Hermione to her request seems to be the magic word instead of please. Helena took satisfaction in seeing the ropes untied and Salazar flexed his arms.

"Helena, would you please tell this friend of yours not to attack me at any chance she gets? I'm impressed that a young witch like her managed to catch me off guard and can't wait to have a friendly duel with her. But an old man like me could only take this much of offensive spells a day."

Helena snorted. "Aren't you back to your youthful self? Shouldn't you have more stamina?"

"Tease." Salazar then looked towards the Baron. "Is he okay? I don't suppose that's a normal occurrence among ghosts. I mean you don't have to breathe, do you?"

"Of course we don't have to breathe!" Helena chuckled at his uncle's fascination with ghosts.

"You have to tell me more about what you can do, or can't! I can't wait to share this with your mother. You know how we've been wanting to speak to a ghost, but they seem to avoid us at all cost." Salazar's dark eyes, if possible, shone even brighter.

Just Salazar mentioning her mother made Helena panic and she blurted out. "It's your grandson. His curse did this to Baron."

"MY GRANDSON?! Salazar hollered.

Hermione winced. This Slytherin snake really could give Mrs Weasley's howler a run for her money.

* * *

**AN: Hello! I'm back with another chapter! By the way, the _italics_ are spoken in Old English, I just realized I didn't put this note up last week. **

**Anyway, just to let you guys know, the plot for this story does not follow the 6th and 7th books closely. I'll edit the first chapter to include this. Salazar Slytherin appearing at the beginning of the Golden trio's 6th year, of course there would be some changes to how they eliminate Voldemort. I'm not sure if there would be Dumbledore bashing, 'cause the last few fanfics that I've read had some strong opinion against the old wizard, I might have been influence :)**

**To the guests, I thank you for your kind reviews. **

**To Moi, I always look forward to your review. I really like your analysis of HP, so good, so so good. I hope this means that you liked the last chapter? Thank you! I kept thinking of direct attacking, but you've given me an idea of what Salazar could teach Hermione in the future. YES TEACHER SALAZAR! I like to think that Hermione takes the initiative to learn how to protect herself especially after she was hurt in the battle at the Ministry. Yes, about the portraits, I really can't remember. But according to Harry Potter Wikia, the Founders were mentioned only in the book, but appeared as portraits in the films. Of course, in this plot, it's preferable to not have portraits of them. There's something else that I want to add :) In this story, the RoR would need to be built after he left, I suppose. You took note of that eh? :D :D :D**

**To Lity, I had to google translate your review. Gracias! I will definitely continue, it's my first fanfic work after all :P**

**To Elizabeth, and also others who have the same question. Yes, JKR said that Merlin was sorted into Salazar's House. But King Arthur's legend placed them in the 5th century, early 6th century. That's between 450AD to 550 AD (I think). Hogwarts was built in 990s AD, so by that time, Merlin would be 540 years old. No matter how powerful of a wizard he is, I don't think he could live more than half a millennium. So the safest way was to make him the Founder's mentor. Please do correct me if I'm wrong, I could've misinterpreted the stuffs I read. Oh, and I don't suppose parseltongue can be taught. HP always emphasize that only those from Slytherin bloodline could speak that 'snake lingo'. But I'm not sure how Ron managed to imitate Harry in the 7th book. **

**THANKS FOR READING TOO! I TEND TO BE LONG-WINDED. SORRY! **


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Sorry for the delay. My grandfather just passed away and we had the funeral last Friday. I only started typing this yesterday and tried my very best to finish it so I could update by today. I hope this chapter is alright. Another one would be coming up by this Friday/Saturday. **

**I realized that it's sort of draggy since HELLO IT'S CHAPTER 4 ALREADY AND YOU'RE STILL IN THE ROOM OF REQUIREMENT! So I decided to explain almost everything in this chapter and hope that by the next chapter, our hero and heroine can start their journey to 'loveeeeee'. **

**Thank you for the reviews! Luckily a few of you reminded me that Chapter 2 is a repeat of Chapter 1. I didn't even realize I made a mistake when I edited the chapter. SORRY! **

**Disclaimer: All characters belong to JKR! **

**As usual, all underline are Old English. I can't wait for Salazar to learn how to speak in Modern English! **

* * *

**Chapter 4**

"Very funny, Helena. You almost got me there." Salazar thought Helena was pulling his legs. He did not have a wife nor did he have any child. What more a grandson! That was too far-fetched. However, seeing Helena's stern face, he knew that she wasn't joking. He gulped.

Helena sighed. "Miss Granger, do you mind asking the room for two chairs? I have much to explain to Lord Salazar here." Noting her wary face, she added, "Please, Hermione?"

Despite her reluctance, Hermione did as she was told. She had no idea how the Room of Requirements works. Harry was always the one who dealt with the Room during the DA meetings. She decided to try her luck. "I need two chairs, please?"

To her relief, two chairs appeared, one next to the chair the Baron was seated in, and another on the opposite.

"Thank you and please have a seat." Helena motioned Hermione to sit on the opposite side of the Baron while she took the seat next to him.

"Uncle Sal, I think it's better if you are seated before I relate to you what happened." Helena gestured at the chair opposite her.

Salazar nodded. His knees were feeling weak already so he was grateful for his niece's thoughtfulness.

"There are many things that you need to know, but since we're already in the topic of the curse, I shall start from there. Before I begin, I hope you can keep your thoughts to yourself until I finish my story."

Salazar rolled his eyes. "Of course, young eaglet."

"Once wizards die, their souls will enter a place called the Limbo where they will decide if they want to move on, or to return to the land of living as ghosts. I was there, and was joined by the Baron shortly after his soul was repaired. It was quite a decision to make, since if we chose to return, we couldn't cross over the veil anymore. After some time, I decided that I was too young to die and I had to see my mother so I returned and the Baron too decided not to move on because he feared death."

Salazar snorted. Despite being a wand holder, the Baron's ambition was to be the world's best sword wielder. Fooling around with that sharp, pointy weapon certainly did not make him someone who feared death. Rather, he believed that the Baron only wanted to follow his niece.

"Any ghosts who wanted to take residence at Hogwarts Castle have to get the permission of the Headmaster first, which was why those who chose to return to Hogwarts as ghosts would appear at the Headmaster's office first. This was where we saw your grandson."

Salazar's mind was absorbing the knowledge of the spirits when he realized. "What's a Headmaster? My so called grandson is studying in Hogwarts and the three of my friends did not even care to inform me? Helena, please ask this lady friend of yours how do I get to Hogwarts from here. There are friends that I have to scold." He stood up at once.

Helena hated it when people disrupted her, especially when she was trying to concentrate on her memories of that day. "Uncle Sal! I was just getting started and you are already ranting. Did you forget what you promised just seconds ago?"

"No, I didn't, but-"

"There are no buts. Now sit and listen to what I have to say. Or do I have to get my lady friend here to freeze you again?"

"No need of that. I'll let you finish your story before I start asking questions." Salazar decided to do as instructed because if she was anything like that bossy mother of hers, freezing charm would not be the only spell heading towards him. Tying him up with ropes and hanging his legs from the ceiling would be more likely.

"You better." Helena glared at him and she continued.

* * *

**Helena's memories**

Helena walked over to the Baron who was practicing with his sword. "Baron, I've decided to return to Hogwarts. How about you?"

The Baron froze. This was the first time that Helena has spoken to him ever since he appeared at the Limbo. He did not want to reply her. He was too ashamed to even turn around and face her.

The Baron ignored her and continued swishing his swords. His movements were clearly slower than when he was alive as he was hindered by the heavy chains that he chose to carry as a sign of remorse once his soul materialized at the Limbo.

"You know, I don't blame you anymore. I mean, at first I did but I've been here for quite some time and reflected on what happened that night. You-"

"I'm going back to Hogwarts too." The Baron cut her off. He was already on the verge of puking as the look of sheer shock on Helena's face when he stabbed her appeared in his mind. The memories were still fresh and he did not want her to remind him of them.

Before Helena could tell the Baron that she was glad to have him there, they both appeared in a dimly lit large circular room. She thought they would be at Hogwarts since the person in charge at the Limbo told them that they would appear at wherever they chose to haunt once they decided to return to the living as ghosts. But the room they were in did not look like any rooms in Hogwarts, even though the bricks of the walls were quite similar.

Looking around, they saw the many windows on the walls then the back of a man behind a claw-footed desk. "Where are we?" Helena whispered to the Baron. She hoped her low voice would not be caught by the man, who was emitting a dark aura but the Baron ruined it.

"Greetings, Sir. May I know if this is Hogwarts?" The Baron asked.

The man's shoulders hitched before he turned and faced them with a calculating look. "Yes. We're at the Headmaster's office."

The Baron looked around. He was sure he knew each and every staffs' offices. This person by the name of Headmaster must be a newly hired staff after he left in search of Helena.

"Helena, I suppose we can look for your mother now that he's confirmed that we're in Hogwarts." The Baron suggested.

Helena nodded and they were about to thank the man when he asked. "By Helena, you wouldn't be Rowena Ravenclaw's daughter, would you?"

"Yes, I am." Helena replied. "Thank you for letting us know where we are. We will take our leave to look for my mother."

The man's eyes flashed. "No, neither of you can leave this room." He pointed his wand at the two ghosts and muttered some incantation.

Both Helena and the Baron found out that they couldn't move, nor could they talk. _Dark magic. _Helena thought, for it was common knowledge that normal hexes and spells could do nothing to the ghosts.

The man staggered a little and supported himself with his arms on the desk. He took a few deep breaths and walked towards them.

"I'm Tomas Gaunt. You see, the Gaunt family has this ideology. Our magical world should only consist of the purest blood, yet your mother and her friends ruined it by inviting the mudbloods to Hogwarts and teach these undeserving fools magic." He noted Helena questioning eyes. "Right, I forgot that mudblood is a fairly new term that I've just taught the Slytherins."

He circled them as he continued with his Gaunt propaganda. "People like us, who come from a long line of magic, are the purebloods. Mudbloods on the other hand, are filthy muggles who somehow found a way to steal our magic. Of course, the Slytherins believed me, for all of them are purebloods. It was rather easy actually, now that the Founders have passed and the First Headmaster of Hogwarts is too old to run the school. Those little snakes easily trusted me once they saw this." He fingered the Slytherin locket that he wore around his neck.

_Isn't that Uncle Sal's? What did he mean by the Founders have passed. Could it be? _Helena mentally shook her head. _No, never._

"I suppose you know what this is, daughter of Rowena. Grandma Rosa did quite a good job at imitating the Slytherin's heirloom, not that I've seen the real one. By the way, Salazar Slytherin is my grandfather."

The same thought went through both spirits' mind. _What year were they in?_

"Not that he knows of his daughter's existence. Grandma Rosa dosed him with an experimental love potion that lasted only for that one night, where she conceived my mother. His sudden departure after that certainly helped. I only had to tell one person that my grandfather had a fight with Godric on recruiting mudbloods as students, and then the rumors start spreading like wildfire. From Slytherin disliking muggleborns to Slytherin pure hatred towards these mudbloods to Slytherin's blood supremacy theory and finally Slytherin breeding a basilisk to purge the school of mudbloods. Interesting, isn't it, how people twist the stories a little along the way."

Tomas stopped in front of Helena. "This stubborn old rag here is so hard to convince when I asked him to retell the history of Founders a little differently. Even if I threatened to burn it, it still did not comply. Such misplaced bravery, just like the man who sewn it." He pointed at the Sorting Hat sitting on the shelf behind the desk. "But I can't really destroy something everyone knows of. And the two of you arrived when I was modifying his memories. Such a waste of my magical core, but it is worth it, especially when he starts singing about how Slytherin only teach those whose ancestry is the purest. Everyone would believe him, for he is the Sorting Hat, the hat of Godric Gryffindor, enchanted by all four Founders."

A lazy smile appeared on his face as he thought of his foolproof plan. "Now, with your appearance, I have a problem. You are Rowena's daughter, so people would choose to believe you over the hat. You, I don't know who you are, but you obviously knew the Founders too. I can't kill you, you're already dead!"

"Let's see, what can I do." Tomas started pacing in front of the two ghosts as they stared at him helplessly. The man before them must have a vast knowledge of dark magic. He would definitely destroy them if there was any such spells.

Tomas mentally flipped through the dark arts texts in the Gaunt's library. Those were in the Gaunt family's possession since the start but none of his ancestors ever practiced them as they did not have enough magic. But when Rosa gave birth to a child with Slytherin's blood, the tomes and books proved useful as there was finally someone whose magical core was large enough to withstand the power of the dark arts.

He stopped when he remembered the dark version of the Babbling Curse. Instead of babbling whenever they start to speak, this dark spell would cause a person's throat to constrict whenever they try to speak of a certain subject. If the person continues to try to talk about it, the throat will constrict even worse until the vocal cord is destroyed. It will also stop a person from writing of a certain subject. However, the curse needs much magical energy, more than the memory modifying spell.

He stared at the two ghosts and smirked. "I won't destroy your souls. I won't banish your spirits from Hogwarts. Rather, I want to you to witness how Salazar Slytherin would be remembered always as the Father of the Blood Purists and with the curse that I'm about to place on you, there's nothing you can do. Brilliant plan, don't you think? Now, let's start with you."

Tomas pointed his wand at Helena, and chanted in Latin. Helena, in her frozen state, felt her throat tightening and her hands numb. _What is he doing to me!_

Once the incantation ended, Tomas's legs gave way and he landed on the floor with his chest heaving, as though he just ran a marathon. "Well, this uses more magic than I thought." He muttered to himself.

But when he started coughing out blood, Tomas knew that his magical core would be drained if he had to curse the male ghost. He could've rested for a few days, but the First Headmaster would return soon.

There was no need to weigh his option. It took him more than six years to brainwash the entire bunch of Slytherins. This ghost would not destroy his hard work. Just one more curse, and the magical world would be theirs to dominate, the purebloods. Just one more curse, and hopefully the Slytherins could reach out to the other three Houses.

"Even if it means my death." His hand trembled as he raised his wand. As he repeated the chant, bloods trickled down his nostrils and beads of sweat formed on his forehead. "For the purest of them all," were his last words before Tomas heaved his last breath.

The First Headmaster would later announce that Tomas Gaunt, a seventh year Slytherin Head Prefect died from overuse of magic when he attempted to freeze the two spirits that appeared at Hogwarts out of nowhere.

* * *

**Back to present**

"It took a few days for the freezing curse to wear off by itself since there was nothing the First Headmaster could do about it. The Baron and I then found out the curse the hard way when the First Headmaster asked us of the Founders. We couldn't talk or write about you. Our many attempts to correct anyone who idolized you as the powerful wizard who fought hard to preserve the lines of the purebloods or even those who condemned you for being a dark wizard were thwarted. I'm sorry, Uncle Sal." Helena cried and kneeled in front of Salazar.

When Hogwarts Castle was built, Salazar envisioned that he would be remembered years down the road, as one of the Founder of the first school of the Wizarding World where young magical people could come and learn. Just because of the damn fool Rosa Gaunt and her damn offspring whom he wouldn't claim to be of his bloodline, he was lowered to a muggle hating nutcase. _Love potion_. He never took Rosa Gaunt to be a skilled potioner yet he was damned forever thanks to her experimental potion.

"It's alright, Helena. I know that curse. There's no way you could utter a word about me. Now, I'll just have to remove this curse from you and the Baron and we will return to Hogwarts and fix this. Your mother and the rest can vouch for me."

Helena stopped sobbing. "Uncle Sal, they're already-"

"Stop! Not a word, Helena." Salazar took a deep breath and calmed himself. "Not a word." He decided to ignore that part of her story. There was no way his friends have… He shook his head and concentrated on the spell. "This might hurt your throat a little, but just hang in there."

Helena felt her throat constrict then as soon as the pain started, it subsided. "Done, and now, Baron." She stared at Salazar who was tending to the Baron. There was no breathlessness, no shaky hands. It was so different from Tomas Gaunt. If she didn't know already that Salazar Slytherin was the most powerful wizard of her time, aside from Godric Gryffindor of course, she would believe now.

Her eyes narrowed once she heard what the Baron said to Salazar. _That tactless fool._

Once the pain of his throat subsided, the Baron knew that he could finally tell those Slytherins that his Lord did not start instigate any of the pureblood nonsense. He was so excited that he spoke so quickly. "My Lord! Thank you for lifting the curse off me. It's been close to a thousand years since your grandson bound our mouths. I can't wait to go down to the Slytherin common room to teach the kids a thing or two about their Head of House."

Salazar's eyes widened. "Close to a thousand years?!" From Helena's story, he deduced that he could be fifty years in the future, which he could totally accept. But, a thousand years? That's outrageous!

Helena hit the back of the Baron's head repeatedly. "Baron! How obtuse can you get!" She had to do some damage control.

"Uncle Sal, I can explain. Wait, maybe not." She looked at Salazar's blank face. "Uncle Sal!" She waved her hands in front of him. "Come on, Uncle!"

Hermione had been observing all these while until she saw the Grey Lady waving her hands frantically and that the wizard-no, Lord Salazar unresponsive face. He was looking right past the Grey Lady, too immersed in his own thoughts. She decided to help the Grey Lady and poked his arms lightly. _No response. Oh well, he can't blame me for this then._ She smirked and smacked his arm hard.

"Ouch!" Salazar rubbed his arms and glared at the witch sitting next to him. "Could you at least try to be more ladylike? First you throw hexes at me, and now you're hitting me physically." Hermione shrugged and pointed at the Grey Lady.

_At least he is still capable of scolding Miss Granger._ "Uncle Sal." Helena started, but she had no idea how to continue. What should she tell him? That she ran away from home? That she stole her mother's diadem, which was defiled by his descendant because she stupidly trusted him? That his descendant started a war in the Wizarding World using his name? That his basilisk had killed a student and petrified a few others and was now dead?

"Helena," Salazar pinched the bridge of his nose. "Let's call it a night and leave your stories for another time. It's too much information and I… I can't take any more of it."

Helena let out a breath she did not know she was holding. She had more time to think of how she should approach Salazar about those topics. "Sure."

Salazar nodded his head. "Is there anywhere I can rest for the night? Though if this is Hogwarts, all I need is my private quarters."

As soon as he said those words, a door appeared next to the fireplace. "What's that?"

Helena smiled. _Mother is real genius. _"I assume that's the door that leads to your private quarters." Seeing Salazar's questioning gaze, she added. "This room, is the Room of Requirements, built by my mother after you left, that apparently gives you whatever you need. We're still in Hogwarts, Uncle Sal."

"I see." Normally, he would start asking questions about the room, but too many thoughts were running through his mind that a dull headache was forming. "I'll see the both of you another time."

Once Salazar walked past the door, it vanished and in front of him, was a dark room. "Lumos." He whispered and he saw that he was indeed in the bedroom of his private quarters. Once he found the candles, he lit them up. "Nox." For a moment, he let himself believe that he was back in Hogwarts, home finally.

His fingers glided on the surface of the dark wooden desk and he looked at the tip of his fingers to find that they were not dirty at all. His spell that ensured his room free of dust while he was away from Hogwarts did work. It looked as new as ever, and not a room that was abandoned for a thousand years. As that thought crossed his mind, reality finally kicked in.

"A thousand years." Salazar scoffed as he grabbed the first item he got hold of and threw it against the wall. When there was nothing left on his desk, he proceeded to the shelves next to it and started throwing the books on the floor. The first drop of tear gathered in his eye and he blinked it away as he continued tearing at his curtains. He froze when he looked at the small golden cup in his hands, engraved on it was, a snake. It was Helga's gift to him and yet he was about to throw it on the floor.

Hugging it to his chest, Salazar collapsed onto his bed and the floodgate opened. He cried for Helena and the Baron, who were dead and he wasn't there for them and their funeral. He cried for the fate befallen upon his grandson, with the sort of upbringing by Rosa. He cried for his Slytherin house, which was now known as the house for the dark wizards and only those of purebloods. He cried for their misconception on blood for a wizard's power really depends on his magical core, and not blood. He cried for the people who were brainwashed by this ridiculous blood purity propaganda. Finally, he cried for the loss of his three best friends. He was not with them, but rather, a thousand years in the future and he had no idea how to return.

* * *

In the Room of Requirements, two ghosts could be seen huddled up close to each other. One was crying for her uncle, and another for his Head of House, but both were for the same reason. They knew that he was stuck in the future where the 'light' hated him and the 'dark' idolized him because Salazar Slytherin never returned to Hogwarts Castle nor did he contact any of the other three Founders.

* * *

In the Gryffindor girls' dormitory, a bushy-haired girl could be heard sniffling though she made sure to put silencing charm around her bed. After Salazar left the Room of Requirements via a door, the Grey Lady started telling her about the real Salazar Slytherin, his grandson and the curse that was placed on her, the Baron and the Sorting Hat. Despite listening to the others droning about how much Salazar Slytherin hated her kind of people ever since she entered Hogwarts, Hermione believed the Grey Lady. She was after all, Rowena Ravenclaw's daughter. Not to mention, should he really be the cruel man the history portrayed him to be, he would not be wearing that dejected face when he left.

She cried for the way legend has misconstrued a great wizard. She cried for she knew there was nothing they could do about it unless they announced Salazar Slytherin's arrival in the future, which they certainly couldn't afford to lest Voldemort gets wind of it and recruits his ancestor. Though, Hermione knew that if it comes to that, Salazar would stand on the Order's side against his descendant.

Salazar's empty eyes when he left the Room of Requirement were the last of her thought before she drifted to sleep. And for some reason, Hermione felt a tinge of sadness. She did not like that blank look on Salazar at all.

* * *

**AN: I hope the curse made sense. If the Salazar in my story isn't a mugglehater, sure the Baron and Helena would know since they were from the Founders era yet they did not correct anyone. The Sorting Hat too. So, I had to come up with something, anything!**

**Anyway, if you've read till here, review please and let me know your thoughts.**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: I have to confess: I don't actually have a story plan. I know what my final goal is, but the in-betweens, I have to just go with the flow and type whatever that pops into my mind. So, please bear with me if the chapters are poorly written. And, some SalazarXHermione action!**

**To Lity: Don't worry, his spirit will be lifted by Hermione! Thanks for the review btw :)**

**Disclaimer: All characters belong to JKR!**

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Hermione picked at the food in front of her and let her mind wander to the incident happened in the Room of Requirement. For three days straight, she had been on alert; as if Salazar Slytherin would appear at any corner any time and she needed to drag him away from the Hogwarts students. But since she had not spotted the man himself, she was now debating if it was just a dream.

Her ears were always listening in to others' conversations; as if anyone would have met a new student. There was a chance of him bumping into others if he ever leaves his private quarter in search for food, unless he managed to call upon the house elves. _Are there even house elves during the Founder's period? Hmm…_ She saved that question into her List-of-Questions-To-Ask-Salazar whenever he is free since Grey Lady mentioned about him never returning to Hogwarts ever since he left.

That man was like an enigma. She wanted to get to know him, to learn more about the man who supposedly preached about 'the purest of them all'. She glanced at Draco Malfoy, the ferret who had been terrorizing her about her 'mudblood' status. _If only you knew the Founder of your House's stance on blood status. _As she was studying Malfoy, Harry's words from before came to her mind and she had to agree that Malfoy seemed a little suspicious.

He sat and ate his dinner like his usual aristocratic self but the tensed shoulders and the lack of smirk on his face gave him off. He took up the corner side of the long table with no one sitting around him, except for his personal bodyguards, Crabbe and Goyle. Even Pansy Parkinson who had been sticking to his side ever since 3rd year sat at the middle of the table though Hermione could see that her head kept turning to Malfoy's side. Either the entire Slytherin was boycotting their so called Prince, or they were giving him space. _Since when did the attention seeking Malfoy need personal space? _

Now that she thinks about it, Malfoy had not even spared her a glance ever since school started. Maybe Harry was right and they needed to keep an eye on the blonde Slytherin.

"Hermione!" Hermione was startled from her thoughts by Harry. "Are you quite alright? I've been trying to catch your attention for the past few minutes."

She looked to her left at her long-time best friend. "Oh, I'm fine, Harry. Sorry I didn't notice you. I was observing Malfoy and he-"

A voice to the other side of Harry snorted. "Observing the ferret? Wow, Hermione, I didn't know you've moved on from Vickie to Malfoy."

How dare he accuse her when she all but had her eyes set on him since she found out that she was jealous whenever Ron swooned over Fleur! Slamming her fork on the table, Hermione's eyes narrowed. "If you'll excuse me, Harry, I don't seem to have much appetite, what with a pig that keeps snorting right next to me. I'm heading to the library, so I'll meet you at the common room later."

Harry gritted his teeth. For three days, he had been trying to mend both of his best friends' relationship but Ron had to stupidly open that mouth of his. "Ron, must you? I was trying to get Hermione to accept your apology but now you had to insinuate that she likes Malfoy."

"I couldn't help it! You should've seen her face these three days. She was so eager for Potions class. I thought the only subject that she's excited for is Charms."

"Er, I think her favorite subject is now Arithmancy."

Ron gulped, embarrassed that he didn't even know his best friend's favorite subject. "Anyway, she was always the first to go down to the dungeon and the last to leave. Lav told me that she returned to her dorm way past the normal time for her patrol to end the night that I argued with Hermione."

Harry quirked his eyebrows, "Seriously, Lav? I suppose you and Lavender had gotten closer these days."

Ron's face turned red. "That's not the point. Mate, I'm telling you, there's something fishy going on between Hermione and Malfoy. Didn't you see it for yourself? She was staring at him the whole time and she did not even touch her dinner."

Harry sighed and continued eating. He had always known that Ron liked Hermione. Even though he did not think that they suited each other for one could be easily put down and give up whereas the other was too perfect and sometimes critical even. He had seen Hermione's change in attitude towards Ron and her frequent glances at Ron which were always followed up by a blush. But now, whatever crush that Hermione had on Ron that developed over the summer would disappear anytime as long as Ron continued acting on his jealousy.

For fear of Ron's reaction, Harry kept to himself what his best friend missed-the Baron approaching Hermione at the entrance of the Great Hall and Hermione following the ghost after exchanging a few words. Though, he was curious. The brooding ghost of Slytherin interacted even lesser than the Grey Lady. He shied away not only from the rest of the Hogwarts, but also students of his own House. So, just what was it that made him talk to Hermione, a student of the rival House and was everything his House opposed?

Hermione stormed out because she knew that if she stayed there, she would end up hexing the red headed pig. _What was it that you see in him? _The one time Hermione let her feelings beat her logical mind, and what did it do. It led her to Ron whom her brain knew was best that they remained as best friends.

At the entrance of the Great Hall, she stopped as a familiar ghost glided towards her.

"Greetings, Baron. Is there anything wrong with your Lord? Is he missing? Has he left his private quarter? Did he eat? It's been three days and I'm sure he needs sustenance especially when he now has the appetite of a seventeen years old." Hermione greeted the ghost and started bombarding him with questions.

The Baron smiled in amusement. Standing before him was a Muggleborn who was worried about his Lord even if he was the cause of her poor treatment by the pureblood fanatics. Not to mention, ever since he stopped mourning for the loss of the other three Founders, his Lord had been praising the witch, something to do with her dueling skills. For that, the girl who once was a little witch in his eyes had earned his respect. "Greetings, my lady." Looking around, he whispered. "My Lord is doing well, but if you don't mind, I would appreciate if you could follow me and we shall have this conversation somewhere more private."

Hermione nodded. There was no telling who could be eavesdropping on them. "Please, do lead the way."

She recognized that they were heading towards the Dungeons and wondered if he was bringing her to his Lord's private quarter. To be able to enter a Founder's private quarter that was not even plotted on the Marauder's Map nor was it even recorded in the Hogwarts: A History. At this thought, excitement bubbled in her and she couldn't help the skip in every step she took.

The Baron frequent strolling along the Dungeon Halls had ensured that their paths would not be met by any of the Slytherin students for they were all at the Great Hall for dinner. Spoilt brats could never stand being hungry.

Hermione followed the Baron to a secret alcove before the Potion classroom, to which the ghost disappeared beyond the wall. She frowned. Was she supposed to wait for him to return?

Just then, the Baron's head peaked out from the wall, with translucent ripples around his neck. It would have been amusing if she wasn't used to such sights from years of having ghosts living under the same roof.

"Miss Granger, why are you still standing here?"

"That's a wall."

The Baron gave her look as if he did not see any problem to it. "Yes, I'm very aware of it being a wall."

"I can't walk past walls." Hermione explained.

"How silly of me!" He stepped out of the wall. "This is the entrance to Lord Salazar's private quarters. Each Founder has warded their entrances such that only those who were approved can walk past this. As for everyone else, they will find themselves hit by a solid wall, and it's really painful."

Hermione saw the Baron touching his forehead. "Oh Baron, I'm pretty sure you won't get hit."

"I found out the hard way." The Baron grimaced. "Both Helena and I were granted entrance when we were alive but it seemed that Lord Salazar had to adjust the wards for ghosts as well."

A giggle escaped Hermione. _Looks like there are some walls that the ghosts can't past through._

"So you're saying that your Lord has included me in his wards? But he doesn't even know my full name."

"I'll have you know that you're not the only Miss Know-It-All around." The Baron said as he motioned Hermione to follow him.

The hallway was brightly lit with candles on each side and the temperature was the same as that of the main castle. No one would have guessed that they were still at the Dungeons. At the end of the hallway was stoned walls engraved with a basilisk. _Salazar Slytherin must have an obsession with basilisks. Oh dear Merlin! He would not take well the news of his basilisk's death. _

"Mehen." The Baron said the password clearly so that Hermione could hear. The basilisk hissed before it disappeared and the stoned wall opened up. "Thankfully, the pronunciation for Mehen hadn't changed over the years else you would have problem learning the password. Though my Lord can change the password into a Modern English word, the current one is quite sentimental."

"I seemed to remember you mentioning Mehen the other day. What is it, actually?" Hermione asked. Her sight was fixed on the Baron instead of where she was walking towards, so she did not notice the wizard and the lady ghost sitting at the sofa.

"That would be the name of my basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets." A voice she remembered well said. _Ah, that deep baritone voice again. But it couldn't be._

She stared at the wizard, dumbfounded. "You… you speak English!"

Salazar chuckled. "Yes, yes I am. I had been speaking English all these while, just not Modern English."

"But, how?" Hermione wondered if he had any comprehensive spells that enabled him to speed up his language learning process. It would save her plenty time and she started thinking of which language that she had yet to learn.

Salazar shrugged. "I have no idea. It's sort of in my blood to pick up a new language within a few days, though that can't be said for the writing."

"And here I thought there was a spell for it."

Salazar's eyes focused on her lower lip that protruded forward. None of the ladies back in his time ever wore that expression and he knew why. It made her look rather… sexy.

He cleared his throat when he became aware of how enticing her lips looked. There was just one thing he hated about his younger body. The damn hormones.

"No, not that I know of since I had never needed it. But if you want, I can do some research into it or even come up with a new spell." Salazar offered and her lips curled up into a smile.

"I appreciate it but no, I don't suppose learning a new language comes in handy at this time." Rather Hermione was more interested in new combat spells.

"You are right. I'm sorry for the havoc the fool of my descendant had and about to cause."

Hermione's eyes widened and she accused the Grey Lady. "You told him about the War! You can't-"

Helena looked at Hermione sternly. "Miss Granger, I know what I'm doing and have I not assured you that Uncle Sal is not a dark wizard?"

Hermione rubbed at her neck nervously. "I apologize, Grey Lady and Lord Salazar. It's rather impulsive of me to assume that you would be running to Voldemort's side. I did not know what came over me once you mentioned your descendant."

"Oh no Miss Granger, I should be the one apologizing to you. You have suffered much due to the propaganda that I started." Salazar said with his head bowed. Helena had told him that she was a Muggleborn who had been bullied by the Slytherins and also petrified by his basilisk. He knew what his basilisk could do. She was lucky she was petrified only for if Mehen gazed at her longer, she would not be alive now, just like another Muggleborn who got killed.

Helena rolled her eyes. _There he goes again with his self-blaming. _She could only trust that Hermione would be able to help him, what with her being the only lady who has ever entered his fortress, aside from her, her mother and Aunty Helga. Though, the three of them were more like relatives.

She pulled Hermione aside, "I told him about what happened after he left, the First Wizarding War and the events that transpired at Hogwarts over the past few years. For three days, I've been trying to drill into him that none of these were his faults, but to no avail. He could be fine at one second and the next, he sits there, staring into nothing. I've seen him stealing glances at the cupboard that kept the stash of alcohol. I'm sure Hermione, we can agree that drinking is never a solution and I can't always keep an eye on him. Both the Baron and I have been here for so long that I'm afraid the other ghosts will realize our absence."

The Baron interjected. "We hope that you could maybe stay here for the night and make sure that he does not drink himself to oblivion."

Helena hissed. "He isn't supposed to drink!"

"Look, Helena, just a little alcohol in his system wouldn't harm him as long as Miss Granger here stops him from drinking too much. Cut your uncle some slack."

Helena sighed. "I suppose you're right. Hermione, dear, you don't have any patrols tonight, do you?"

Hermione shook her head.

"Please take care of him, just for the night. I can assure you that he'll be back to his real self tomorrow and start plotting the death of that descendant of his." The Baron smirked.

All Hermione could do was nod. How could she refuse the Grey Lady who looked so helpless when she mentioned about how temperamental her uncle was. If anyone asked, she could always say that she fell asleep at the Library. After all, she had permission from Professor McGonagall to peruse the Library even past the curfew hours.

Once the ghosts left, Hermione sat next to him. At first, she was clueless as to what to do then she remembered how when she was young, her mom always comforted her when she told her mom of how she was ostracized by the other kids in school.

"You know, it was your grandson who spread the pureblood ideology and not you. He was raised by the Gaunt family, not Slytherin. Let's put it this way. If you never came here, if you find out that Rosa Gaunt was carrying your child, would you raise her or-"

Salazar's head snapped up. "Of course I would raise the child by myself and keep her away from Rosa even if it means I have to give her more than half of my inheritance."

Hermione smiled. "That's right!"

Salazar frowned. "What's right?"

"You said you will get the custody of your child."

"What's a custody?"

"It means that you have the right to take care of your child. Lord Salazar, what I meant to say was that you didn't even think before giving me a reply. Under normal circumstances, you would keep your child away from the Gaunt's family way of life and your grandson might not have been that twisted man he was. As for your descendant, he's nothing but a halfblood psychopath who preached about getting rid of those who were not pureblood."

"You mean he's a mix of wizard and muggles?" Hermione nodded. "Why would the Death Eaters choose to follow him then?"

"Perhaps they didn't know of his real heritage. I wonder what they would do if they find out that their Master isn't as pure as they thought he was." Hermione then placed her hand on his and gazed into his dark eyes. "You are definitely not the evil one and you should stop blaming yourself over whatever that had already happened. It's all in the past and you can't change history." She mentally cringed as she thought of Third Year and her time-turner. "Should there be a war now, I trust that you'll be standing on our side."

"Of course I would! I would even kill my descendant by myself if I had to. I certainly do not condone to his ways of thinking, or the rest of the pureblood bigots for that matter." Salazar stated. It was as if a heavy stone has lifted off his chest and he could breathe properly. "Thank you."

"You're welcome! Just remember, the Room of Requirement must have called you to the future for a reason and ancient magic is something that we can't fight."

"Does this mean I should put the blame on Rowena? She is the creator of that room after all." Salazar smirked.

_Godric, do all Slytherins attend lessons on how to smirk. Though, his one is nothing like that haughty smirk of most of the Slytherins that she has encountered. His is like a sexy crooked smile and not some sort of sneer. _Hermione blushed at her thought.

She quickly stood up and clapped her hand. "So, care for a drink? I heard you had quite some stash in that cupboard of yours."

Salazar pressed on her shoulder and made her sit. "I'm feeling much better now so no, I don't quite need a drink. Though, I'll brew us some tea."

"You have tea leaves?"

"My spell seemed to have kept my food supply fresh even after a thousand years. What wouldn't we do without magic."

Hermione's mouth was wide agape. She had never heard of such spells. It would have been so convenient to prevent ingredients from getting rotten. Salazar Slytherin must have been the brightest wizard of his age.

As Salazar boiled the water for the tea, he pondered on what Hermione had said, _The Room of Requirement must have called you, _followed by Helena's words, _gives you whatever you need_. Someone must have summoned him and the only person who was there the other night was Miss Granger. His instinct told him that Miss Granger could be trusted, but the question remained in his mind.

Why did she call upon him? Did she do it unknowingly? Did she even know that she was the one who summoned him?

He was itching to just perform legilimency on her but once he gazed at her brown orbs, he just couldn't. But for some reason, the thought of invading Hermione's privacy did not settle well on him and another question rose.

Nothing had ever stopped him from looking into everyone else's thoughts, even his own best friends, he was guilty of it, so what was so different about Hermione from them?

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**If you've read till the end, review, please! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: All characters belong to JKR. **

**AN: Thank you for all the favorites and follows and reviews :) And Litty, I LOVE the Baron too, even though he's a little OOC. Haha.**

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**Chapter 6**

At his kitchen table, Salazar sat and took a sip of his tea, getting his dose of caffeine to keep him awake for he barely slept the night before. Once the cup was placed on the table, his gaze fell to the palm of his hands. He could still feel her soft skin from the night before when he carried her.

* * *

They had conversations on what he was going to do now that he was in the future, whether to keep his identity as a secret, who could be trusted with the secret, whether he was going to be a student or whether he was going to stay outside Hogwarts and to be summoned only during battles. Once a decision was made, they fell into a comfortable silence and sleep claimed the both of them.

Somewhere in the middle of the night, Salazar woke up, feeling slightly ticklish on his neck and cheeks. Only then he noticed it was Hermione's hair. Her head was lying on the left of his shoulder yet her mess of brown curls blocked almost half of his face. Facing it up close, he had to admit, never had he seen a lady with such wild, bushy hair. He wondered how she managed to brush and maintain them. It was rather… fascinating.

Taking a breath, he could smell green apple. It wasn't his favorite fruit, but at that moment, it seemed like it could be his next favorite scent. Realizing that his thoughts were slightly inappropriate, _who smells other people's hair, and a lady's!_, Salazar sighed and adjusted her head so that he could stand up and move her to the spare room.

She was rather light, for a lady, not that he could make any comparison. The only other lady, scratch that, girl he ever carried was young Helena.

His palm came into contact with warm, soft skin. Glancing down, he groaned as he realized how inappropriate it was for him to have skin contact with a lady's legs. He should have just levitated her. If only he was aware of how short her skirt was earlier. If Godric were to be there, he would have rejoiced at the thought of his best friend, finally managed to touch a lady's legs. Well, at least consciously, not that Rosa could count. _Does she not have enough money to buy more cloth? _

Soft snores could be heard as she snuggled into the comforter. Salazar thought it was adorable. He could hear Godric's voice in his head, _Sally! How could you! You hexed me just because you thought I snored like a wild boar and here you think hers is adorable._ Then, there was her lip. He remembered the way her bottom lip sticking out.

* * *

Salazar slapped his forehead. Even when he was seventeen years old, he did not recall any reaction he had towards any of those girls. Not even the Veelas had made him feel this way, so heated up. He was itching to run around the Black Lake to get rid of the pent up hormones, but he couldn't afford to be spotted by anyone and he did not think he had enough concentration to maintain the Disillusionment Charm. For now, he had to wait, or so Hermione said, only for the weekend.

Glancing up at the clock, which Hermione transfigured, he counted. _Short hand, six… Long hand eleven… Which means, five minutes to seven!_ He mentally cheered for not forgetting how to read a clock and the numbers that he learned from Hermione. He could still remember her proud face when he managed to announce the time without her guidance.

Hermione had said that she usually wakes up at seven and has breakfast at half past seven. With that in mind, he decided to make breakfast for the both of them. After setting aside the scrambled eggs with a spell that kept it warm, Salazar took the loaf of bread out and sliced them. Hermione had said that she liked toasted bread for breakfast. He did not have an electric toaster, as mentioned by Hermione when asked of how to make a toast, but he remembered vaguely his mother had said that she used to toast the bread to keep them from turning stale before she was introduced to the world of magic.

Taking a fork, he poked through the bread and held it on top of the flame.

"Morning, Sal!" A voice called from behind. They had agreed on just calling him Sal in case she slips up the full name.

He turned and gave her a smile. "Morning, Hermione." Her hair, if possible, seemed even wilder.

Noticing that Salazar was eyeing her hair, Hermione quickly tied them up into a ponytail. "Sorry about that. They're quite untamable unless I have a brush with me."

"Oh no, why would you apologize for something you're born with? You should be proud of it. Seeing how you're the only lady around that has such bushy hair, I rather think it's unique."

"Erm, thank you." Hermione blushed. Many times people have commented her mane of frizzy hair as unique with a put off look or relief that they were not born with such wild locks. So, it was the first time someone has complimented her and sounding so sincere about it.

She sniffed. "Do I smell something burning?"

Salazar looked down at the bread that looked more like a piece of burning charcoal at that moment and dropped the fork instantly. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, that was embarrassing. How careless of me to drop the bread into the cooking flame." He would never admit that he was trying to make toasted bread and got distracted by her.

"Come, have a sit. I made breakfast." Salazar placed the remaining sliced bread on the two plates.

First man to cook for her other than her dad. Hermione's cheeks burnt at the thought of that. _Woman, it doesn't mean anything! Men from the Middle Age could be brought up to be chivalrous._ "Oh, I can't impose on you like that. I'll just grab something from the Great Hall later."

"Hermione, I've already cooked your portion. It's just scrambled eggs, really simple to make. You won't deny the old man here a breakfast partner, would you?" Salazar walked over to the opposite side and moved the chair backwards. _What a gentleman._

"Hmm…" Hermione tilted her head as though thinking. "Of course not, I would enjoy a meal with any elders any time. But you on the other hand, are only seventeen, not even close to being old."

Salazar reminded her. "Physically I'm seventeen, but really, I'm over a thousand years old."

"Okay, I'll eat, you millennium old man." Hermione walked towards Salazar and sat down.

Feeling satisfied, Salazar went back to his seat and stared at Hermione.

"Do I have something on my face?" Hermione touched the side of her lips, just in case there was any bread crumbs.

"No."

"Then why are you staring at me?" Hermione asked.

Salazar smile sheepishly. "It's quite silly actually. I was thinking how you're the first person who sits with me during mealtime after three months of holing up in that cave."

"Cave?" Hermione placed her fork down and sat up straight as she looked at Salazar for an answer.

"I set up a laboratory and a living quarter at one of the sea cave. Your legend was right about how I left Hogwarts Castle and never returned, though it was wrong as to the reason behind it. Godric would have agreed with me that they were ridiculous to think that we argued about not letting the muggleborns attend Hogwarts. In fact, the four of us worked on the Statute of Secrecy together, seeing how it was a quite dangerous time for magical practitioners born to muggles."

"Was there a witch hunt during your time as well?" Hermione inquired.

"No, not at all." Salazar's eyes widened in shock. "Wait, witch hunt? You mean to say people actually gathered to hunt us?"

"Yes. It was in the 1400s though."

"But, why would they do that? Did one of my descendant show himself to the muggles and harm them?"

Hermione shook her head. "Now, Sal. Not everything was caused by your descendant. In fact, I'm not quite sure as to how the muggles knew about us. At that time, the government authorities were led to believe that the witches and wizards were an organized conspiracy led by the Devil. People were gathered to conduct hunts all over Europe. Many witches and wizards were caught and executed on the charge of witchcraft. Sir Nicholas, the ghost of Gryffindor was one of them."

"But, we have magic! I'm sure they could've escaped."

"Not many people are experts in wandless magic. Once they are stripped of their wands, there is little they could do. Besides, there were muggles who confessed to being witches after being tortured. It was sort of the Dark Age for the magical world and documentaries named it the Burning Time. Anyway, that led to the enactment of the International Statute of Secrecy that hides our world from the muggles."

"I didn't know the muggles would have gotten that far to eradicate us." Salazar rubbed his face as he thought of people of his kind being burnt alive, beheaded, and persecuted. "It was precisely why we established Hogwarts, to instill to the wizarding children that they couldn't practice magic in front of muggles. It was easier to educate them at a young age, rather than when they are adults. The four of us feared the muggles' reaction to our existence, especially when I told them the way muggles treat any of their children born with magic."

"You actually mixed with muggles long enough to know that?"

"Hermione!" Salazar chided, faking a hurt look. "I thought we've long established that I, Salazar Slytherin, do not hate muggles."

Hermione ducked her head and bit her lips. "Sorry! I promise, it won't happen again."

"Right. Back to my story, during my time, most muggles believed that witches do not exist, which was good news for us actually. But my mother told me otherwise. You see, when she had her accidental magic, her parents thought that she was possessed. They kept bathing her with holy water and scrubbed her skin so raw that she was always in pain. Until one day, my father was at her town and sensed that there was a magic user around. He pretended to be an exorcist and persuaded my grandparents to let him take her away for a few months to cleanse her. Of course there was no cleansing or what not. My father actually taught my mother how to control her magic."

"Your mother is a muggleborn?" Hermione gasped.

Salazar smirked. "Yes, surprise? Little Tomas must be rolling on his grave, knowing that his blood is tainted with mud."

"Surprise is an understatement. If only the Slytherins knew that their precious Founder is a half blood." Hermione laughed.

"Right, I don't get this animosity between Houses. During my time, my students mingled around with students of the other Houses just fine."

"Must have been little Tomas's doing." Hermione shrugged and decided to change topic. "So, Hogwarts accepted muggleborns too to prevent their parents from treating them as though they are possessed?"

Salazar nodded. "Nobody deserves to go through the pains of exorcisms. To make it easier for us to track down a muggleborn, we enchanted a quill to write down all magical children's names once it detects their birth."

"The Quill of Acceptance."

"So they actually named it instead of just calling it a Magical Quill?" Salazar chuckled. "Once we go through the list and discovered the names of those muggleborns, we just have to show up and tell their parents that we were from an exorcism program. The other three Founders saw my reasoning and supported me. They even dressed up as priests, nuns and shamans whenever they had to meet the muggle parents. Though, there were the occasional complaints by Rowena as to how plain the nun clothing are."

Hermione could see that Salazar had a faraway look that always appeared whenever he thought of the three Founders. Salazar said softly. "You know, I am supposed to be back at Hogwarts now, enjoying lunch with the rest of them."

Placing her hand on top of his, she got the attention of Salazar and looked into his eyes. "I promise, if all goes well, we'll have breakfast, lunch and dinner together every day." Her lips curled into a teasing smile. "I hope you won't want to get rid of me after being stuck with me for a week."

Salazar gave her a grateful smile. "Thank you."

A throat cleared. "Are we interrupting something?"

Hermione quickly removed her hand and waved at the two ghosts. "Hello there, Baron, Grey Lady."

Baron was about to reply when Helena elbowed his chest. "Oof. What was that for?"

Helena ignored him. "Morning, Hermione. Thanks for taking care of this old man."

"Hey! I'm not old." Salazar protested.

"Really?" Hermione arched her eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure minutes ago you were saying that you are at least a thousand years old."

Salazar huffed and started on his breakfast while Hermione told the two ghosts of their plan.

"So I'll meet you in front of the Headmaster's office at 9? I have to go now before the Slytherins are done with their breakfast." Hermione stood up.

"Yor Eeving?" Salazar asked, his mouth stuffed with bread.

"I'll just assume that you were asking if I was leaving. Yes I am. It's a Saturday and I'm not about to walk around in my school robes. See you later?" Hermione gave him a peck on his left cheek and left, all the while convincing herself that she does that with Harry and Ron too, nothing out of ordinary. _Sal is a friend, just like Harry and Ron._

Salazar watched her leave and touched his left cheek.

Once he noticed that the two ghosts were staring at him with knowing smile, he swallowed. "What, do I have something on my face?"

The Baron muttered something about love, which earned him an elbow from Helena again. He glared at her. "I never knew you've gotten so violent over the years." Then he left the kitchen and glided towards the living room.

Helena giggled. "Pardon him, he grumble a lot these days."

Salazar toyed with the collar of his tunic. "Is it just me, or does the room feel hotter?"

_Only a kiss on the cheek by Miss Granger and he feels hot? Oh Merlin. Uncle Godric would tease him endlessly for this. _"I'm a ghost, how would I know?" Helena gave him an incredulous look before joining the Baron at the living room.

"Right, another fact of ghost. They can't feel the temperature around them." Salazar muttered to himself and quickly finished the remnants on his plate and tea.

"Shall we?" he announced to the two ghosts at the living room.

A look of amusement showed on Helena's face and she shook her head.

The Baron pointed at the clock. "I realize, Miss Granger has transfigured you a clock. It's only half past eight now. Either she did not care to teach you how to read it, or someone is a little eager."

Hermione was not someone who would introduce Salazar something new without teaching him so he defended her. "Of course I could see that it's half past eight. Hermione has taught me last night and made sure I knew how to read it before she retired to bed." Not that they had to know that the two of them fell asleep on the sofa.

"Ah, you do know the time. This leaves the other possibility. You're keen to meet the Headmaster!" The Baron smirked. "Or is it someone else?"

Salazar narrowed his eyes. "Is it a culture now to tease the elder?"

The smirk was wiped off instantly as the Baron sputtered. "My Lord… Well… Of course not..."

Helena placed her hand on the Baron's shoulder. "Oh, quit it, Uncle Sal. I've been doing that to you since I was young, I'm pretty sure you're used to taunts from the young ones."

"Helena, you spoil all the fun." The Baron grumbled. "I'll have a quick shower. We can't give the Headmaster a bad impression."

Once the door to his bedroom closed, the Baron snorted. "Five galleons he's showering only for Miss Granger."

Helena raised her eyebrow. "Do you even have galleons?"

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**AN: Is the chapter too short? I have a major exam in one month's time so I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up :( Sorta panicking now that I realize I haven't studied much. **

**Anyway, review please! They make me and the Baron happy!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: The following characters belong to JKR! Not me! I try to keep them as canon as possible, but still, they might end up OOC.**

**AN: My paper just ended today yay! So sorry I couldn't reply to your reviews, because I was trying to get this out as soon as possible. IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME! Gah! **

**Anyway, thank you everyone, for your reviews, your favorites, your follows. I'll try to update twice a week from next week onward before I start applying for jobs. Hehe. 3**

**And here you go, Chapter 7. It's 3.48am now, so I just hope whatever I typed made sense. **

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**Chapter 7**

Casting a silent Muffliato charm, Salazar used the opportunity to confront the Baron. "Baron, why-"

"My Lord, pardon me for cutting in, but weren't you saying that you would try to converse in Modern English as much as possible to get used to it?"

_Here I thought I was the elder. _Salazar cleared his throat. "So, Baron, why did Helena leave us and went to the Headmaster's Office by herself?"

"I have no idea." The Baron's shoulders tensed, just slightly that any other people wouldn't take note of. But he was Salazar, the Head of his house, of course he noticed.

"Baron," Even though it was just one word that Salazar uttered, but it was his name, and his Lord had spoken it with that authoritative tone that he always used with the students who broke the school rules. The Baron had never been at the receiving end of that tone because just like his other Slytherin housemates, their instinct of self-preservation had warned them not to step out of the line while they were in the boarding school.

Now, the Baron knew why the students from the other Houses were always caught whenever they played any pranks. With his voice, his aura calm yet domineering, and most of all his magic, ripples of it touching the Baron's ghostly skin, as if coaxing him into tranquility, so that he would feel safe enough to spill out whatever that was on his mind.

And safe, was what the Baron felt. "It would cause quite a number of rumors if the students or staffs see us walking together."

"Why is that so?" Keeping his replies curt and short was the way Salazar interrogated his students. He never knew how it always worked but it was a foolproof method.

"I'm the Slytherin House Ghost and she's the Ravenclaw's House Ghost." The Baron paused when he felt his Lord's anger whenever the house animosity was mentioned. _Must have been hard to know the way students are so into such petty house rivalries when he and the three Founders were best of friends. _"We stayed away from each other. Not only that, the both of us rarely talk to anyone, well aside from Nicholas, he's one persistent ghost." The Baron's lips curled a little, relieving the memories of how Nicholas kept annoying him with his one-sided conversation until he started to reply Nicholas unknowingly. First it was just a word or two, but now, the Baron and Nicholas would sit at the Astronomy Tower and talk while the rest of Hogwarts was asleep.

The Baron's eye caught the Gargoyle Corridor and he sighed in relief. His secret was safe from his Lord, or so he thought.

Salazar could hear a faint sigh from next to him and he knew that the Baron was keeping something from him. He walked a little quicker and intercepted the Baron. "I'm sure not even a thousand years can stop you from seeking Helena out. What happened?"

The Baron looked into Salazar's scrutinizing gaze and all the guilt that he buried deep inside him since a thousand years ago surfaced. His shoulders sagged as the chains on him felt heavier. He gasped in shock as he saw the scene playing out in Salazar's obsidian eyes. Helena's wide eyes, Helena's terror-stricken face, Helena's blood in his hands… "I killed Helena." He blurted out.

Salazar was certain he heard wrongly. Getting thrown to the future by a magical room created by Rowena, he could accept. Having grandson who started pureblood ideology using his name, he could tolerate. Having a deranged descendant hell-bent on taking over the magical world, he could put up with. But hearing that the Baron was the one who killed his young eaglet? That was out of the question! Salazar was well aware of the Baron's feelings towards Helena. _No._ "Baron, I don't appreciate such joke."

The Baron's lips quivered as he repeated. "I killed Helena."

From his guilt-ridden, pale face, Salazar knew that he did not hear wrongly the first time round. He wanted to believe that there must be a reason behind the Baron's crime. He was, after all, his student of his House, under his care when he was still at Hogwarts. But the word murderer kept flashing in his mind. Salazar tightened his grip on his wand. "You promised that you would take care of her."

The Baron could remember clearly the day Salazar left Hogwarts when he gave a magical oath to protect Helena with his live. _I killed her, and the oath killed me on her behalf. Ironic, isn't it?_ He dropped to his knees. "I'm sorry. I really am. I'll take any punishment."

Salazar's wand pointed at the Baron. The spell that could destroy souls was there, waiting for his mouth to form the words. Salazar's eyes darkened as he was split between eradicating the one who murdered his niece and finding out the reason behind his questionable act that was so unlike the Baron he knew.

The Baron shivered as he felt his Lord's dark magic surrounding him, waiting to attack once ordered.

"Sal," a female voice called out softly from behind and the dark magic stopped suffocating him. The Baron turned around. The owner of the voice, Hermione Granger was looking intently at his Lord. Then there was Helena Ravenclaw, with her hand covering her mouth, eyes darting between him and his Lord. _She knows, of course she does. _

He saw Hermione approaching his Lord with caution, as if she was dealing with a female dragon protecting her eggs. With every step she took, the dark magic subsided slowly, until it disappeared back into its owner's magical core the moment she touched his Lord's arm. As much as he deserved his Lord's punishment, he was still fascinated by how easily the young witch could calm his Lord. _If I could place a bet, I would bet that they would get together in less than two months._

Helena, after getting rid of her initial shock, quickly glided over to do some damage control. She had always changed the topic of her death whenever Salazar questioned her for fear of what Salazar would do to the Baron. Whatever happened that day, she had a hand in it as well. They were both to be blamed, but Salazar wouldn't know. He would always see her as his young eaglet, and not the hateful side of her that she grew up into after he left.

"Uncle Sal, please don't harm the Baron. I'll explain to you tonight, but now is neither the time nor place for that." She told him before tugging at the Baron's arms to pull him up. "Get up, Baron. You won't want any of your Slytherin little snakes to see you kneeling down."

"But I deserve it. I broke a promise and I took an innocent live."

At that moment, Helena regretted not talking to him about this right before they came back to Hogwarts, to clear up the misunderstanding. She should've known why he chose to wear the chains, no matter how heavy they are, yet she chose to turn a blind eye. They did not interact at all ever since they parted from the Headmaster's Office a thousand years ago, until now. She should've known as much as their banters for the past few days were just like old times, there was still a wound beneath it all that was left unhealed. She had missed her best friend, and decided to act as if nothing had happened.

"Obviously you've forgotten what I said at the Limbo, and I will say it again until it gets through that thick skull of yours. I do not blame you, Baron."

"I-"

Helena cut him off. "You know what, after meeting Professor Dumbledore, we will have that talk."

The Baron wanted to protest but stopped himself once he saw the stubborn look on Helena's face. "Yes we will." He had to find a way to get out of the talk though because he knew Helena would pitch her argument in such a way that he would not be found guilty of the murder. However, he _was_ the murderer and nothing could alter that fact. He _had _to feel remorseful and he did not want Helena to change that.

"And this time, you don't get to change the topic. You know dying is always the better option if I don't get what I want." Helena warned.

The Baron just stared at the lady ghost, wondering how she knew him so well.

Salazar on the other hand, wanted to walk towards the two ghosts and separate them. He was jerked backwards once he took the first step. "Hermione, he was the one who murdered her!" It was the only reason that he could give for every action of his that morning.

"Well, I can't say I know what's going on but I can be very sure that the Grey Lady wouldn't be happy to find Lord Baron dead by your hands." Hermione kept a firm hand on Salazar as she recalled Grey Lady's gasp of 'No!' once they turned the corner to the Gargoyle's Corridor and saw Salazar's raised wand pointing at the Baron.

"I never knew the history remembered how powerful my hands are that they can still kill a ghost who's already dead." Salazar raised an eyebrow at her and he couldn't resist teasing her no matter how much he wanted to force Helena to tell him what exactly happened.

Now, Hermione was never a violent person. She only ever smacked Ron's head, though that could be a result of his stupidity and that they were best friends for years. Yet, there she was, smacking a wizard she knew less than a week, again. It was no wonder even her own best friends did not see her as a girl. "You know what I meant!"

"I'm not a mind reader, how would I know."

Salazar noted how Hermione stiffened and her hand pulled back from his arm, as if his skin burnt her. Was he so repulsive?

Hermione averted her gaze from the wizard standing next to her and called for the two ghosts. "Grey Lady, let's get going."

Hermione walked towards the end of the corridor, so distracted that she did not realize that she was supposed to supply the password. _Did he use Legilimency on me before? History recorded him as the Master of Legilimens. Was that why he trusted me?_

"Hermione, do you know the password?"

Hermione was pulled out of her thoughts. "Oh sorry, I was trying to remember what Harry told me." She turned towards the large stone gargoyle. "Lemon drop."

Salazar frowned. She certainly did not need so much time to recall any password. She was distracted, he surmised. _And who exactly is this Harry?_

Once they reached a large wooden door, Hermione knocked on it, announcing her arrival. There was no need asking the rest of them to remain behind since Professor Dumbledore had wards set up that sensed anyone that passed through the Gargoyle.

"Come in," a voice announced from the other side of the door.

Hermione opened the door and ushered the two ghosts and wizard in. _Here goes nothing._

"Good morning, Professor Dumbledore."

"A very good morning to you too, Miss Granger," Professor Dumbledore's eyes looked towards the rest of the guests. "Lord Baron, Lady Helena, and…" _A newcomer, yet Hogwarts wards did not sense any person's arrival nor did the ward at the Gargoyle's entrance sensed him. Interesting._

Hermione stood right in front of Professor Dumbledore's desk. "Sir, I know it is hard to believe once I tell you who he is, but both Grey Lady and Lord Baron can vouch for me that he means no harm."

Professor Dumbledore nodded. "Do enlighten me."

Hermione took a deep breath. "Sir, this is Lord Salazar Slytherin."

"What?" Professor Dumbledore stood up at once and his hand automatically gripped at his Elder Wand. "Miss Granger, where did you find him?"

Hermione moved sideways, blocking Salazar from Professor Dumbledore's view. Even though she knew that Professor Dumbledore could try to hurt Salazar with or without her standing there, and Salazar could hold himself against the Professor, she figured it was still better with her wedged between the both of them. At least there couldn't be a direct hit, and Salazar could have more time to react.

"I found him in the Room of Requirements." Hermione proceeded to tell the Professor of her encounter with the Founder with the Grey Lady and Lord Baron chipping in their insights here and there.

Salazar saw her blocking his view from the wizard with silver hair and beard. A warm feeling spread over his entire body. He did not feel offended that the witch wanted to defend him from the old wizard, despite knowing how skilled he was. _Ah, silly witch, wanting to protect me, yet putting herself in front of a powerful wizard who would attack anytime, _Salazar smiled at that thought.

He wouldn't interfere with their conversation. It was not his battle anyway. He understood why the old man was wary; he would to, if ever a time traveler appears in front of him. The old wizard would not take his words to heart, so Salazar left it to the Grey Lady and Lord Baron to speak on his behalf.

Instead, he chose to survey his surroundings. It was his first time seeing a Headmaster's Office and he was impressed, first with the large stone gargoyle guarding the entrance, then the abundant paintings hanging behind the desk. His eyes narrowed at one of the figure moving around the painting. It was just like the painting that he passed by on the way here. At that time, he thought that he might have been hallucinating. But now, the paintings were definitely moving. He would ask Hermione as soon as he could.

There was this slight magical aura that he could feel, similar to the ones on Helena and the Baron before he removed the curse. Salazar continued scanning the room, from the silver instruments that were spitting smoke, to the books and the phoenix. _Lucky old wizard, to have a phoenix bound to him. _Finally, his eyes lay upon a battered pointy hat- The Sorting Hat. Even though he knew that the hat was cursed, he still felt the urge to sew his mouth, the bloody tear along the brim, that spoke ill of their friendship.

Salazar huffed and looked towards the old wizard. He needed his permission to undo the curse on the hat. Anger surged through him as he noticed the old wizard's eyes. To the others, it might have looked as if the old wizard was being polite, paying attention to the witch while she was talking. He was Salazar Slytherin. He was not called the Master of Legilimens for nothing, though for this old wizard to perform Legilimency in front of the Master himself, Salazar wondered if the history noted this status of his.

The twinkling, blue eyes were a mere façade. Salazar's hands tightened into fists and he took in deep breaths to stop himself lashing out at the old wizard. It was clear that Hermione trusted this old wizard the moment she mentioned his name without thinking when they were discussing the night before who to reveal his real identity to.

She wouldn't believe him if he ever accuse her Professor of reading her mind. Salazar's eyes widened at this. _So that was why she pulled away from me! Mind reader! She feared that I read her mind. _He scowled. He had to teach her Occlumency. The witch clearly was afraid of the wrong wizard here.

"Yes, of course I believe you, Miss Granger. You have an impeccable judgement after all."

"T-Thank you, Sir," Salazar rolled his eyes at Hermione's stutter. He could already see her blush and how she would dip her head a little in embarrassment. _Silly witch, of course he believed you! He read your mind!_ He wanted to scream at her, but he bit his lips and stopped himself from doing so.

Then, the old wizard walked towards him. _Ugh, don't shake my hand, don't, you evil man. _

"It's an honor to meet you, Lord Salazar. I'm Albus Dumbledore, the 26th Headmaster of the school you've founded." The old wizard held out his hand.

Salazar reluctantly shook his hand. "I can't say the same for you though, Professor." He heard Hermione's subtle cough. _Damn, I said that out loud. _Salazar had always prided himself for having the poker face, even able to converse with his worst enemy as if they are best friends. This time, he had let his annoyance at the old wizard shown and Salazar was not pleased.

He carefully schooled his face. "But I've heard from Helena of your contribution to the magical society. I am most amazed at how you managed to stop the Dark Wizard, Grindelwald."

"It was nothing. Anyone would go up against him to prevent the dark forces from taking over."

Helena decided to interrupt them to end the meeting as soon as possible. She could identify the telltale signs of Salazar's dislike towards the Professor. She didn't know why, but it was obvious Salazar was struggling to maintain his so called poker face, one that never failed even when he faced the Gaunt father and daughter duo. _Could it be that Salazar hates the Professor more than he hates the Gaunts? That's impossible!_

"So, Professor, what's your plan for Lord Salazar?"

Professor Dumbledore thought for a moment and his eyes twinkled. All Salazar could think of at that moment was how he wanted to stab his eyes. _Bloody thing keeps twinkling. It's not even a star._

"Well, just like what Miss Granger said, we can't disclose his real identity. I can't arrange him as an exchange student from Durmstrang or Beauxbaton, because many students still keep in touch with their friends from those schools so it would be easy to do a background check on him. Now, the Order of Phoenix would be informed of this new development. He could pose as Mr. Lupin's cousin from his mother's side and was home tutored."

"But Professor Lupin's mother is a muggle. Wouldn't that suggest that Sal is a Muggleborn as well?"

"I'm afraid so. It's easier to say that his parents did not want him abroad when Minerva approached them years ago and now that they're dead, he can only continue his education here in Hogwarts."

Professor Dumbledore continued telling the rest of them the plan then once he was done, he looked at Salazar. "Is this arrangement agreeable, Lord Salazar?"

As much as he disliked the old wizard, he had to admire the manipulative side of his, coming up with such plan in less than an hour once he got over his initial wariness of him. "Yes, it certainly is. I'm sorry to impose on you this way, but I haven't gotten an idea on how to return to my time." Even if there was a way, Salazar didn't know if he would leave. The war was coming, and he did not feel right leaving Hermione to fend for herself.

"I suppose you're here for a good reason." There it was, that twinkling eyes and Salazar's anger flared again. "We'll announce your presence tomorrow night at dinner. The Sorting Hat will sort you to your house."

Hermione gasped. "Oh dear Merlin, you would be the only muggleborn in Slytherin."

Salazar's anger ebbed away at her worried face. "Not to worry, the Sorting Hat will put me wherever I want it to. But this reminds me, I have to undo the curse, else it'll create a ruckus once it's placed on my head. May I, Professor?"

Salazar stood in front of the Sorting Hat, which as if sensing danger, woke up from its slumber. Before the Sorting Hat could react, Salazar quickly muttered the spell and delved into the Sorting Hat's mind, removing the alteration placed by his grandson hundreds of years ago. Once done, he stood back and the Sorting Hat recognized its creator's magical aura. "Lord Salazar! But, how?"

"You'll find out when I put you on my head tomorrow night." Salazar smiled.

"Thank you for undoing the curse. I'm sorry I can't do much about our current predicament. I would've loved to reeducate the students of their Founder's stories, but-"

Salazar waved his hand. "What's in the past shall remain, in the past. All we can do now is to find a way to stop my descendant and only when the war is done that we will talk about reeducating the History of Hogwarts."

"I suppose you're right. Very well, I shall leave you to Miss Granger's care. He cannot be seen by other students until tomorrow night."

Salazar almost snorted. He only mentioned cannot be seen, instead of keeping him locked up. A glance towards Hermione's curled lips, almost like a smirk, showed that she got the message too. He could walk around with her as long as he had a Disillusionment Charm over himself.

Ah, the old wizard wasn't so annoying after all. Salazar remained behind as the rest of them walked out of the door.

"Professor Dumbledore, thank you for all that you've done." Salazar smiled at first swiftly, his eyes turned darker and caught the old wizard's eyes.

_Don't you ever dare to perform Legilimens on Hermione Granger again, else. _

He smirked when he caught the old wizard's shocked look and with a bow, he left the Headmaster's Office. If Helga could see me now, she would chastise me for being so dramatic. If Rowena could see me now, she would chastise me for revealing myself to the enemy. But if Godric could see me now, he would pat my back and congratulate me for defending the young witch. _Because witches are vulnerable. _He would say.

"Not this witch, Godric."


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Once I started writing this story, I knew that I had to solve the conflict between Helena and Baron. I've always thought that given time I will know what to do, but no, till now I'm still stuck, which is why I've typed yet another chapter without addressing that. But, I'll definitely deliver during the next chapter.**

**Another thing, as Icetail1r had kindly pointed out, I'M SORRY for I've written the story assuming that Old English and Modern English sound like two entire different language, when in fact, they don't. Most of the words sound the same, so sorry about that.**

**Disclaimer: The following characters belong to JKR, in any case that they're OOC, I apologize beforehand.**

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**Chapter 8**

Back at the Gargoyle Corridor, Salazar, having had enough of the cautious look that Hermione kept throwing at him, told the witch walking next to him, "Hermione, can I have a word with you in private?"

Hermione bit her lip. Even though she was wary of Salazar probing into her mind, she acquiesced to his request. She mentally flicked through the tomes detailing The Art of Legilimency and Occlumency that she had read when Harry mentioned about the private lessons he had with Professor Snape, and couldn't help giving herself a mental slap for focusing on dueling skills instead of this mind defending skill. _That's it! I just have to avoid his gaze!_

"Sure. I suppose we can use the Room of Requirement. Gryffindor Tower is at the same floor anyway."

Noting that she was not looking at his eyes further reaffirmed his guess that she suspected him to have performed Legilimency on her. Salazar was not pleased and was adamant to rectify that. If anything, he would miss her brown eyes dearly.

"Helena, we'll have our talk later when I return to my quarters." He narrowed his eyes at the Baron. "As for you, if you value your ghostly live, you would do well to not appear before me."

"Ye-" The Baron bowed while Helena slapped her hand over his mouth.

"Don't be ridiculous, Baron." Helena whispered to his ear and then looked at her surrogate uncle. "Uncle Sal, the Baron and I will wait for you at your quarters."

"I do not wish to see him." Salazar spat.

"Well, I do not wish to repeat myself when the story that I'm about to tell the both of you is the same, so you'll just have to deal with him."

Salazar could tell that his young eaglet's stubborn side would not relent so he grumbled a reluctant "Fine," just to appease her.

Helena smiled sadly. "Thank you."

She then whispered, "Besides, you'll wish not to see me when all is explained," a whisper that was heard not by Salazar, who was occupied with thoughts of how to change his wards to his living quarters to revoke the grant of entrance to a certain ghost without him physically there, but was caught by Hermione, who was standing closer to the Ravenclaw ghost.

Hermione frowned upon hearing the Grey Lady's murmur. She was curious. From the few times she witnessed the two ghosts interacting with each other, she saw a bit of her, Harry and Ron in them. She thought that they were best friends. However, she had lived in Hogwarts Castle for the past five years and she knew the only two ghosts from the Founder's Era were never seen to interact with one another. She had to wonder why no one ghost, student or staff ever raised question as to how they died, why they never talked to each other and why was the Baron wearing a chain. Not even herself, had thought of it, accepting the ghosts as the way they were, distant and withdrawn from the rest of the Hogwarts residents.

Then, her mind went back to what Salazar had announced to her before the meeting with the Headmaster. Lord Baron had murdered the Grey Lady. If that is so, it would explain why nobody ever saw them together. Yet, when Hermione somehow summoned the two ghosts, they talked to each other as if they had never stopped chatting for hundreds of years and the murder never happened. In fact, she had not seen Lord Baron's guilty face until the confrontation between him and Salazar.

If the Grey Lady could still defend her murderer and thinks that her Uncle Sal wouldn't want anything to do with her, it must have been more than just a simple murder. Hermione had to mentally prepare Salazar for it just in case he decided to shun them. So when the two ghosts left, she started with her plan. "Sal, have you ever thought of why Lord Baron would kill the Grey Lady?"

"What is there to think? A murder is still a murder, regardless of the intention." Salazar stated, plain and simple.

"Would self-defense still be a murder?" Hermione challenged. She had always been an avid follower of rules, believing that everything is black and white. Entering Hogwarts had changed that. The first rule she broke was the rule of honesty, when she lied to Professor McGonagall to protect Ron and Harry who had saved her from the troll. From then, as long as Hermione could justify her rather 'grey' actions to herself, she still believed that she was sticking to the rules, albeit rules bent as she deemed.

In fact, her most recent stunt had gone against the school rule, yes, another one, which is to cast spells unrelated to studies only with permission and supervision. She had performed a Confundus Charm on Cormac McLaggen to sabotage him during Quidditch tryout, rationalizing that she was doing a favor for Harry. Someone who could insult other would-be team members would never play well as a team.

"Are you suggesting that the Baron was defending himself from Helena?" Salazar laughed hollowly. "First, Helena is a lady. Why would a man find the need to defend from a weak lady? Second, the Baron had always been a hot tempered man. It wouldn't be a surprise if he did kill her when angered."

Hermione raised one of her eyebrow, amused that he would choose words to suit his argument. They were man and lady in this case, not wizard and witch. "I agree, physically, the Grey Lady is unable to cause bodily harm to Lord Baron. But you're missing the point. The Grey Lady is a witch, the daughter of Ravenclaw. She is nothing but weak. You should keep in mind that she knows spells that can elicit more damage than mere bruises."

Salazar was about to suspect that Hermione was standing by the Baron and as if she knew his thought, she added, "I'm definitely not trying to defend the Baron, since I don't know what happened. Aren't you baffled by how the Grey Lady still speaks cordially to Lord Baron, her supposed murderer? I, for one, am not that forgiving."

It was as if a veil had been lifted up. His anger at the thought of his young eaglet being harmed had clouded his judgement. How could he think that the Baron had murdered Helena in cold blood just because he was ill tempered? How could he think so little of his student? Now that Hermione had given him another perspective, perhaps things have changed in the years that he had left Hogwarts.

"I get you," Salazar's lip thinned. "I'm sorry I had acted without thinking."

Hermione looked up and gave him a reassuring smile. "Unfortunately, for most of us, emotions often trump logic. Sometimes anger gets the better of me too. Anyway, do remember to keep an open mind to what the Grey Lady has to say."

Salazar nodded, and then grimaced when Hermione turned her head swiftly. _She really thinks that lowly of me, _he thought bitterly.

Hermione couldn't help but feel as if something was amiss. She heard footsteps around the corner and grabbed the wizard's arm. "Quick, conceal yourself!"

Salazar's eyes widened at his slip-up and did just as told. He couldn't believe that he had overlooked this, a simple instruction from the old wizard to stay out of sight.

"Hermione!" Salazar looked up to see a girl who was decked out in red-red hair, red robe, red gloves. _What a color coordinator. _He smiled at the broom in her hand, glad that people still continued flying on brooms.

"Hello, Ginny," Hermione greeted her friend, after calming herself down. They were almost caught and she would've broken her promise to Professor Dumbledore. _Constant vigilance!_ Tonk's voice shouted in her mind.

"Where have you been? Harry had been searching for you since the night before. You weren't at breakfast, you weren't in your room, and Lavender said that you didn't return to the dorm the entire night. That's the second time this week! Have you finally decided to get over that oaf of my brother and see someone else? A secret lover? Is he a Ravenclaw? You've found someone you can have an intelligent conversation with, haven't you? Or maybe, OHHHHHH! A Slytherin? I've always heard that Slytherins are great in-"

Hermione, getting tired of her friend's rambling clamped Ginny's mouth, muffling her voice. "Ginny, I told you I was in the library the other night, and yesterday I fell asleep in the common room. Did Lavender bother to check her facts before gossiping about me?"

"Figured," Ginny muttered dryly. She had hoped that Hermione was having some sort of secret relationship. Even though Ron was her brother, she knew that a relationship beyond that of friendship between the two of them would go downhill. Neither of them deserved to be hurt. _Oh well, I just have to pray to Merlin harder and keep an eye open for any possible candidate. _

"This morning, I was with Professor Dumbledore."

"Oh, what for?"

Hermione did not want to lie to her friend, so she just gave a short version of Professor Dumbledore's cover story. "Apparently, Professor Lupin's cousin from his mother's side has enrolled in Hogwarts at a short notice. So, I'm supposed to help him to settle down since before this he was home-schooled."

"Isn't that the responsibility of the Head Prefects?"

Hermione's fist tightened as her mind concocted a reason to her best friend's question. "He's in Sixth Year."

"Right, I hope he doesn't end up in Slytherin, else you'll have problem showing him around. But, wait, Professor Lupin's mother's side? So, a Muggleborn huh. You would be safe then, not one Muggleborn has ever been sorted into that house."

Hermione gulped and nodded. It would be a sight to see the Sorting Hat bellowing 'Slytherin!' when seated on top of a Muggleborn's head. Salazar would be introduced as such, instead of the Half Blood he was.

"Blimey! I'm running late for Quidditch practice. Not that it would make any difference. We all know that even without practice, Gryffindors will always beat Slytherins." Ginny laughed, in a boyish manner like the rest of the Quidditch players. "See you later, Hermione!"

"Have fun!" Hermione watched her friend run towards the direction of the Quidditch field and continued walking towards the Rooms of Requirement.

When the witch had said the name Harry, Salazar had to bite his tongue to repress the groan upon hearing that name. He had to wonder the relationship between Hermione and Harry, for him to look for her during night time. As the witch continued, Salazar was puzzled. He had never seen a witch chatter like the red haired witch whom Hermione had addressed as Ginny. Shouldn't she have the need to breathe even when talking? More questions were formed as he listened on. Was Harry Ginny's brother who Hermione had to get over with? Did that mean that he was her lover? Salazar was so tempted to ask Hermione, but with her distrust at him, she would never tell him her private matters.

So, Salazar settled for one question after casting the silent Muffliato charm. "What's Quidditch?"

Hermione laughed at this. It was the first time someone had asked her a Quidditch related question. Almost every Hogwart student was aware that the know-it-all knew only the basic knowledge of Quidditch and Hermione left it at that, not wanting them to find out that she actually knew next to nothing of Quidditch.

"Is Quidditch a joke? That's why you're laughing?"

"No, it's not." Hermione breathed in. "It's just that people ask me all sorts of questions, but never Quidditch. It's sort of well-known that I never enjoyed Quidditch. Even Harry thinks I'm hopeless when it comes to his favorite hobby."

Salazar's eyes narrowed. There it was, Harry again.

Hermione continued. "All I can tell you is that Quidditch is a wizarding sports played on brooms. The players are split into two teams and whichever team scores the highest point wins. Though, from few Gryffindor matches that I've seen, it's almost always that you win once your team player catches the snitch."

Before Salazar could open his mouth, Hermione beat him to it. "Don't ask me what a snitch is, I can't really explain. Maybe you should see for yourself. There's a match tomorrow. I'll be there, since Gryffindor is playing and Harry would kill me if I don't show myself. You can conceal yourself and sit next to me. I'll try to sit at the edge."

Salazar huffed mentally. How important Harry must be for Hermione to watch a sports she detested. Though, Salazar had to give it to the creator of this sport. Who knew that something as casual as riding a broom could be turned into a game? If Godric were to be here, he would be most thrilled.

"Please do save a seat for me. I'm looking forward to it."

Once they entered the Rooms of Requirement, which looked exactly like the first night they met, the both of them took a seat on the wing-backed chair.

"What was it that you wanted to talk about?" Hermione asked.

Salazar decided not to beat around the bush. "Forgive me for being blunt, but I just want to assure you that I did not perform Legilimency on you."

Hermione gasped and looked at the wizard before her, wondering if she was so obvious. "I… er…"

"Even though I'm skilled at it, I do not just read anyone's mind anytime." Not that Salazar would admit that he did it whenever he suspected that he was being lied at, or when he wanted to win the other three Founders during their duels. _Well, the three of them are masters in Occlumency anyway._

Hermione smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry. It's just that you're quite reputable in Legimency, if history was right, so I thought maybe you've looked into my mind at some point to decide if you could trust me or not. Not that I blame you, but I don't really like the idea of someone knowing my inner thoughts. They're rather private."

Salazar would've done that to anyone else, but the moment he looked into Hermione's brown orbs, he couldn't bear to cast the spell. He had questioned himself many times, but to his frustration, he had no answer to it. He just couldn't.

"I could always teach you Occlumency," Salazar suggested.

"Occlumency?" Hermione gaped. Here was an opportunity to learn from the master himself and perhaps she could even pass on the knowledge to Harry.

Salazar nodded. "This way, you can protect your mind just in case anyone decides to attack it. You'll be aware the moment a Legilimen enters your mind." _Especially that old wizard. _Salazar's anger boiled at the reminder of the old wizard learning Hermione's innermost thoughts. No one will ever invade her privacy.

"Thank you." Hermione's cautious side warned her that he could've lied to her but her inquisitive side was elated and eager to learn the Art of Occlumency at once.

Salazar upon noting the flash of wary in Hermione's eyes before they became bright and excited, he sighed. He supposed he had to start working on gaining her trust. He couldn't blame her. It's been less than a week since they met and he was a Slytherin, an origin at that.

"I, Salazar Slytherin, swear upon my magic that I did not and will not perform Legilimency on Hermione Jean Granger without her permission. So I swear, so mote it be!"

Upon hearing the magical oath, Hermione blinked. "Sal! There's no need for that oath!"

"Don't worry. I've worded it such that during our lessons, I can still try to cast Legilimency on you as long as you first give me permission to do so."

"Still, an oath on your magic!"

"No harm done, as long as I can gain your trust." Salazar stated honestly.

"I do trust you." Hermione said and then raised her hands once she saw his penetrating gaze. "Maybe, half?"

"I'm glad that we're halfway there. Then, I won't have to swear that many magical oaths. That was my first by the way." Salazar smirked. "I hope you can suppress yourself before you announce to everyone Lord Slytherin had given his first magical oath to a muggleborn."

Hermione's cheeks burned. "Of course I wouldn't," Upon seeing Salazar's arched eyebrow, she admitted. "Fine, I was tempted to."

"Of course you would."

"Oh, quit teasing, you old man." Hermione had to leave before she decided to hit him again. "So I'll see you tomorrow? I'll meet you outside the Great Hall at half past nine."

"Where is this Great Hall?"

Hermione replied, with a glint in her eye. "Hmm, you know what, I'm sure the Grey Lady and Lord Baron would be able to escort you. It's easier for me to know that you're there once I see one of them since you'll be invincible."

Salazar glowered at the witch before him. _How cheeky, thinking that by doing so, I'll be forced to ask either one of the two ghosts for directions else I won't be watching the Quidditch match. What a way to ensure that I'll still talk to them even after I've heard Helena's explanation. _

"Remember to keep an open mind." Hermione reminded him and stood up once she noted the slight tilt of his head.

Right when the door opened, Hermione heard Salazar saying, "Wait!"

She turned around, wondering what else the Founder wanted to say.

"I'm most certainly going to be sorted to Slytherin House, so I was wondering, what was it that your friend said that Slytherin was great about? I need to be prepared for it, to show that Muggleborns are more skilled than them."

Hermione blushed. She most certainly knew what her red headed friend meant, but how could she tell the wizard before her.

"Cunning? Manipulative?"

"Here I thought they are at least expert in any of the subjects being taught."

Hermione laughed. "There's one, potion."

Salazar's eyes lit up but dimmed the moment Hermione announced that it was due to the Professor being their Head of House.

"See you tomorrow, Sal!" Hermione bid Salazar goodbye. But the wizard didn't hear, all the while muttering about how the students sorted in Slytherins were failures and did not deserve to be in his house.

Hermione's cheek tinted a light pink as a thought crossed her mind. _Bed, Ginny had always told her that Slytherins were great in bed._

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**AN: Thank you all for your kind reviews, and follows, and favorites. Even the follows makes me happy that at least someone is reading this! :)**


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